


Only in FairyTales

by MadiPat83



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bath Houses, Books, Dimension Travel, F/M, Fantasy, Forehead Kisses, I don't really know what to tag this story as, M/M, Middle Earth, Multi, Past Torture, Portals, Romance, Sleepy Cuddles, Soulmates, Torture, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-16 14:58:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17551841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadiPat83/pseuds/MadiPat83
Summary: In which Bilbo Baggins, professor of History, travels to an unknown world in the arms of a King.





	1. Wake Up Call

“What was Gandalf saying?! I’m perfectly fine being on my own.” Bilbo mutters to himself, fuming from a discussion he had with his colleague Gandalf Grey. He had been given a book from Gandalf, saying it would change his view on things. Grabbing his cup of tea as he sits in his comfy chair. Wrapped in a blanket and holding the book, getting comfortable to begin reading. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” 

Once opening the book and reading, he stopped on the description of a man. A great prince, now king, who put his people before him. Not to mention, very attractive. “Wouldn’t it be nice if he could just take me away… Aha! What am I even saying?” as Bilbo read on, he slowly fell asleep. The book against his chest. Snoring quietly as the night went on, he didn't even notice he was being lifted from his chair.

The book fell to the floor, flipping pages rapidly and glowing bright. A man appeared out of the book. Looking around, he notices that he had suddenly appeared in a very weird room... with a sleeping man. He had heard in his prophecy that he'd rescue a lonely soul, wasn’t expecting this. Looking at the man, he walks over and glances around just in case there was someone else. Shrugging, he leans down and gently scoops him up into his arms. He walks back to the book and steps on the pages, vanishing from this world and into another. 

Once Bilbo had woken up, he looks around and yawns. Stretching. "What a pleasant dream. I must tell Gandalf that that's a great... book?" He looks around and sits up, sitting in a bed unknown to him. "This is not my living room.” 

"No it is not." A man said in the corner of the room. "This is Erebor. Welcome." The short man with a long white beard says and smiles at him.

"Oh you have got to be kidding.” Bilbo shakes his head, blinking rapidly and staring down at the sheets. “I get it. I’m dreaming. That’s all. I’m just… dreaming.” Standing up, Bilbo walks past the man. “I am just, in my dream. Yeah! Only logical explanation for this.”

“Um… sir?” The man says and clears his throat, catching Bilbo’s attention. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Balin. This is Erebor, and you were brought here by our king, Thorin Oakenshield.”

“Thorin? From my book?” Bilbo’s knees began to shake, causing him to fall back into a chair. “So what you are telling me, is that I was sucked into my book?”

“No. Not quite. Our king went through some sort of portal and brought you here.”

“So he kidnapped me.”

“Heavens no,” Balin assured. “He brought you here due to the prophecy.” Balin’s smile widens.

Bilbo sat in silence as he stares at the other. He didn’t quite know what to say except that this was a dream. It had to be a dream. No king came and kidnapped him while he slept. He’s just sitting on his chair, wrapped in a blanket and in his warm living room. No one would want to even take him in the first place.

“I’ll leave you to adjust, and I’ll bring you some tea.” Balin says as he walks to the door, opening it and closing it behind him. It sounded heavy. By how it scrapped on the floor, it sounded as if it was made of stone.

“This is just one big dream… Isn’t it?”

\------------------------

In the other room, Thorin stares at the war table. Moving pieces all while trying to come up with a strategy.

“I think bringing that… outsider, was a mistake.” Dwalin, Thorin’s dearest friend, made very clear that he disliked the idea of Thorin going through the portal. His whining got worse once Thorin returned with a sleeping man.

“It was written in stone. So I had to-“

“Fuck the stone!” Dwalin spits as he moves around the table. "He doesn’t even know where he is, nor do we know who he is. We cannot trust him, Thorin.” 

“Dwalin. Please. I understand that now is a dangerous time to be trusting people. But the grey wizard has not led us astray yet.” Thorin places a hand on Dwalin’s shoulder. “I’m sure that when the time comes, we’ll see what his reasoning for being here is.”

“His reason for being here is because you brought him here.” Dwalin looks at his knuckle-busters and flicks non-existent dust off of one.

Thorin ignored the comment, staring at the chart and letting out a sigh. “We have more important things to focus on. Smaug is moving his army and they are moving fast. We won’t be able to keep up if this continues.” He runs one of his hands through his long hair, looking at some of the strands that had turned silver. “If we lose this fight, we lose Erebor…”

The room fell silent as the pair stare at the table. They slowly look towards the door upon hearing loud commotion.

“Sir, you cannot—“

_“Move.”_

“But sir! You cannot just enter the—“ The door burst open. A man stood at the door with an extremely pissed off expression. 

“Which one of you assholes kidnapped me!” He shouts glaring at the two, Balin in the back. Clearly exhausted.

“I’m sorry your majesty. He refused to stay in the room till you returned.”

“Damn right I wasn’t going to wait.” He glares at Thorin, pinpointing who was king in the room. “Listen here and listen well. I don’t care if you are some king of some land. You are taking me home right now!” He says as he places his hands on his hips and taps his foot on the stone ground.

Thorin stood in shock as he looks at Dwalin, then back at the man and clears his throat. “Umm… Well, we should talk in private.” He gives a nod to Dwalin and Balin, the two leaving the room and shut the door behind them. “Now. You must have questions.”

“Of course I’d have bloody questions. First off, who the hell are you. Where am I. And why would you even kidnap me from my home.” He answers, glaring. Foot continuously tapping on the ground.

“I am Thorin Oakenshield. I am the ruler of Erebor, also known as the lonely mountain.” Thorin answers, bowing his head slightly. “Your turn. Who are you.”

“You didn’t answer all my questions.”

“Doesn’t matter. I wish to know who I’m talking to before I say more.” Thorin crosses his arms, standing straighter as though to make himself bigger.

The other sighs and shakes his head in frustration. “Fine. I’m Bilbo Baggins. Professor at a university. I teach history.” He shrugs and looks at him. “I don’t have any fancy titles so you're stuck with that.”

“Well, Master Baggins, You weren’t exactly kidnapped.” He says and clears his throat and gestures for the other to take a seat. "You see, I was given a prophecy when I was very young. A portal would lead me to a lonely soul who would change the tides of war. It appears that you are that lonely soul.”

“Wow. Even this world thinks that I’m—I am not a lonely soul!” Bilbo lowers himself into the chair and crosses his arms and pouts. “Why does everyone insist that I am.”

Thorin raises a brow, sitting down in a chair himself. “Well, you were all alone when I arrived.”

“That’s just… Maybe I like my alone time, anyone ever think of that?” He snaps back, sinking into his seat and crossing his arms.

Thorin slowly nods his head and looks at him. He looks around his office and stands up once more, walking over to Bilbo and looking down at him. “I’m sorry to tell you, but I do not have a way to send you home just yet. I believe that once the war is finish, you’ll be sent back to your world. It cannot happen before, nor after. I’m sorry.” He says, watching the other sink deeper and deeper in the stiff chair.

“Great… Just perfect.” Bilbo says and ran his fingers through his hair and looks away from Thorin. “I don’t know why anything would pick me to help but… I’ll do what I can I guess.” He looks back at Thorin. Thorin was caught off guard by the colours in the other’s eyes, then quickly shook the thought, held out his hand and smiles at him.

“Do we have a deal?”

Bilbo stared at the hand for a while before standing up and taking it. “We have a deal.” He says and smiles, the grip he held felt as though attempting to crush Thorin’s hand. The smaller man turned around and left the room.

Thorin sat down and stared at his hand for a moment and then back towards the door. “Interesting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome to this fic that I wrote, yep.  
>  I will try to update this regularly, hopefully. I do have an unpredictable scheduled and may not have time to work on this story often.  
>  I do hope you've enjoyed this chapter. :)  
>  I also hope to write longer chapters for this story later on.
> 
> -Madi


	2. Greetings from the Princess

Thorin sat in the war room for a while after his interaction with Master Baggins. He must admit, no one had ever spoken to him in such a way. It was understandable of course, he did take this man from his home and have trapped him in the castle.

“I am no kidnapper.” He mutters to himself, startling one of the maids to had come in to clean. He looks towards her. she bows quickly and leaves the room. He shakes his head and pushes himself from the chair, walking back over to the map and picking up one of the pieces. It was a piece of a red dragon. He glares at it for a bit before hearing the door.

“Well, that could have been a lot worse.” Balin says, pushing the door open and chuckling slightly. His eyes go to Thorin’s hand and then back to his king.

“He was so angry, honestly I’d rather be facing a warg than that type of anger.” Thorin says and looks up from the piece before setting it down. “You don’t have to explain things to wargs.”

“Just so you know, he settled down once I gave him a book.” Balin walks over to Thorin and stands across the table, looking at the pieces spread across it. “I remember your father would get so mad when you and your brother came in here. Messing with the plans and changing things up.”

“We were very bored children then.” He says as he moves a group of figures, sliding them across the table. “Still no word on where Frerin is?” He didn’t make eye contact with Balin.

“Afraid not. No word has risen to where he could be…” Balin shakes his head and looks at his King, took the roll to young. “It’s not your fault he went missing Thorin. He left on his own without saying a word to anyone.”

Thorin looks at Balin, brows creased. “It is my fault. I ignored his wishes, and he took it upon himself to leave.” He steps away from the table and walks around it towards the bookcases and stares at it. “I should have just listened. Sent guards with him if he wanted to travel so badly.”

Balin pats Thorin’s shoulder and lets out a sigh. “Well, with how things are going now. He may just turn up.”

Thorin only nods and rubs his forehead. “Anyways. The task at hand.” He says and shakes his head and stands up straight, looking towards the door. “What to do with Master Baggins. Can’t just keep him locked in the room the whole time he’s here.”

“Oh… About that. Your sister seems to have… collected him?” Balin says with a nervous shrug.

“She did _what?”_

——————————————

Bilbo stared at the book that was given to him, flipping through the pages at a language unknown to him. “What am I supposed to do with this…” He mutters as he sets it down on the side table and walked around the room he was in.

It was larger than his living room, and probably his home in general. Glancing towards the bed, he noticed that his blanket from the night he was taken was with him. That was at least some form of comfort. 

Bilbo walks over and runs his fingers over a corner of the blanket, even lifting it to his nose to smell the scent of home. Sweet oak smell, hint of cinnamon and the smell from his small garden that rested on his windowsill. “I guess I’ll have to get a new garden when I go back.” He sighs and sets the blanket down, turning around and jumping as a woman stood at the door with a pleasant smile on her face.

“Oh, my apologies for startling you.” She says as she remains standing by the door. “I couldn’t help but peek at what all the fuss was about. Dwalin is absolutely fuming, must say that it is quite entertaining.”

“Who—?”

She looks at him and gasps. “Oh where are my manners. I am Princess Dís. Sister of the king.” She says as she approaches. Bilbo lifts a hand to shake but instead is engulfed in a hug. “I’ve heard so little about you, but that is all going to change. Come along, let’s get some tea.” She says as she wraps her arm in his and drags him out the door.

Bilbo had trouble keeping up, she moved so quickly and made sharp turns without any indication that she would be. Now that he paid attention, she did have very similar features to the king. A strong nose, raven hair with streaks of silver. Sapphire eyes, only slightly darker than the kings.

Suddenly, she stops and looks back at him and smiles wide. “We have arrived at the kitchen. Now, just so you know. Our cook, Bombur, is rather shy. So he probably won’t say anything. His brother, Bofur, very skilled miner but also a really good cook is very talkative. I think you’ll enjoy him. Now, Bifur, he doesn’t speak common so you’ll have to be a bit patient. But he’s a sweetie and an amazing toy maker.” She says way to fast and smiles.

“Wait— Who?”

Dís pushes the door open before Bilbo could utter another word. “Boys! You have a hungry guest!” She says as she pushes Bilbo into the kitchen and into a chair.

“Oi, whatcha got there?” A voice came from the other side of the kitchen. A man with a weird hat, along with two braids that somehow defied gravity started to approach.

“Just the man that Thorin brought back.” Dís says and smiles at him, holding onto the chair.

The man walks over and kneels down to look at Bilbo. He smiles and then holds out his hand, taking Bilbo’s and shaking it rapidly. “Lovely to meet ya! I’m Bofur, that’s Bombur,” he points towards the largest man Bilbo had ever seen, “And that’s Bifur.” The man has an axe in his head… _an axe._

“I’m… Bilbo Baggins…”

“Very nice name Bilbo!” Bofur takes Bilbo’s hand and shakes it rapidly and smiles wide. “Let’s get some grub in ya before the lads come back from training.” He winks before turning away and crashes around the kitchen.

Bilbo slowly turned to Dís, who was standing above him smiling and watching the other pull out mugs and filling them with tea. Bombur was filling a bowl with stew and setting it on the table.

Bofur collects the bowl and balances it on his head as he walks over. Handing a mug to Dís and then handing the other one to Bilbo. He then reaches on his head and hands it to Bilbo as well.

“Bombur makes a really good stew, so please enjoy.” He says, just as Bifur threw a spoon at him. Bofur catches it and hands it to Bilbo with a smile before tipping his hat to Dís and walking away.

Pulling up a chair, Dís sits down and looks at her mug before taking a sip and then looking at Bilbo. “So, Master Baggins. Do tell me about yourself.” She says and stares at him.

“Umm…” Bilbo looks away from her, trying to keep his eyes moving. “I’m a history teacher…” He says and directs his attention to the bowl of stew. Scooping some into the spoon and blowing on it, taking a sip. “This is fantastic.” He says, eyes lighting up as he sped up eating.

“A teacher, fascinating. So you know of great battles that took place, and warriors who went down in history yes?”

“Not quite. More like history on fallen kingdoms and several other types of things.The civilization, what they ate… Hadn’t been to a dig in a while now that I think about it.”

“Ah, so boring stuff.” Dís says and sips at her tea again. “What about… hmm… Strategies? Have you ever looked at war strategies?”

“I use too, when I was with my past… lover. He was rather fond of testing out strategies with me.” He sets the now empty bowl down and picks up his mug. “But, I stopped once he moved out and everything. Didn’t need reminders.”

“Good to know.” She then pauses, looking towards the door. “Bofur. May want to prepare.” She says.

The door suddenly burst open, two young lads walk in. One with long blond hair and the other with a dark brown. They were chatting in some language, same one that Bifur spoke he assumed.

“Amad! You should have seen us today in training.” The brown haired one says as he rushes over to Dís and places a kiss on her cheek. The blond one following close behind and following the action. Placing a kiss on Dís’s cheek before they both look at Bilbo.

“Ah! You must be Mr. Boggins!”

“Excuse me?” Bilbo looks at Dís then back at the young man.

“Kíli, it’s Baggins. Not Boggins.” She says and pats his shoulder and then looks at Bilbo. “These are my sons, Fíli and Kíli.”

“Fíli,” Says the blond one. “Kíli,” Says the brown haired one. “At your service.” Both of them say and bow to Bilbo.

“The pleasure is mine.” Bilbo says and smiles at them, bowing his head as well. “I must say, the names are very similar to one another.”

“My husband insisted that we keep the names similar to his. I think it was one of his family's traditions.” Dís says and smiles. “Go on and eat boys, I want to continue talking to Master Baggins before Thorin snatches him away.”

Bilbo raises a brow and watches the boys rush over and jump on Bombur, trying to peek at what was being made. He stares at his tea and lets out a sigh before setting down. “I must admit, I haven’t had this much conversation in a while. The last one was with a work colleague.” He says and leans back in the chair. He closes his eyes for a moment before practically jumping out of his seat. “My job!”

His sudden action had almost made Dís drop her tea, but it didn’t stop him from knocking his own tea off the table… all over his clothes.

“Oh my.” Dís says and looks at him and sets her tea down and stands up. “You can worry about your job later. We need to get you changed. Now that I look at you, your clothes make you stand out way too much. Not to mention they are horrendous. Come come. We must get you changed.” She says and takes Bilbo’s hand once more. “Thank you so much for the food Bombur, Bofur, and Bifur.” She says as she waves goodbye. “Boys, be polite.” She then looks at Bilbo and leads him out of the kitchen.

——————————

Dís leads him through a small market, just outside the kingdom.

“Your kingdom… is a mountain?” Bilbo says as he looks around, seeing all the craft that went into the mountain to make it a home.

“Yes. The Lonely Mountain. Erebor is one of the richest kingdoms in the whole realm. Our ancestor, Durin the deathless, came upon it and made it how it is today.” She smiles, holding her head up and showing pride. “Now, we will have guards with us. To prevent assassins and stuff like that.” She says and looks at Bilbo, who appeared to be way too lost in thought to process what she had said.

Dís smiles and looks towards some guards and nods, they start to follow behind them as they go through town. Dís explained several things about the city. How there was a bigger market in the city of Dale.

“This is really lovely.” Bilbo says as he looks at the excellent craft of silverware and jewelry. “I’ve never seen such beautiful craft.”

“Yes. It is our specialty.” She places a hand on his shoulder. “Come, let us head to Dori’s. His mother made the most beautiful dresses, and he will soon surpass her skills.” She pulls him away from the silverware and towards a small building.

“Dori? Are you here?” Dís says as she pushes the door open. Inside there was fabric littered everywhere, along with beautiful dresses in work in progress at the moment.

“Princess Dís? Is that you?” Out of one of the rooms came a man with very light silver hair. “It is! And you brought someone with you. Come in, come in!” He says and smiles. “I’ll get some tea on, very nice rose flavor along with some lavender and honey.”

“No need for tea, we are in need of clothes.” Dís says and looks Bilbo up and down. “Desperately.”

“Well I’m _sorry_ that I was taken in my pajamas.” Bilbo crosses his arms and glares. 

Dori looks at Bilbo’s clothes and scowls slightly as he looks at them. “What on earth are pajamas? Hideous.” He grabs some items and walks over, “Arms out.” He says as Dís grabs Bilbo’s arms, lifting them up. He then takes the measurements before Bilbo can blink. “Very good proportions.” He says and nods to himself and turns away from them. “I’ll be finished with a new outfit in an hour.”

“An hour? That quickly?” Bilbo says and tries to catch up with what had just happened.

“Yes. I’m rather quick when it comes to clothes.” Dori says and starts to grab some fabric from a basket. “Now. Shoo shoo, I have work to do.”

"He likes to work when no one's looking.” Dís says and smiles, leading Bilbo out. “I assume you have no money, so let’s get you some things. You were looking at the jewelry earlier.” Dís says, dragging him across town to several different stores.

Bilbo pauses and looks at one piece of jewelry. It was a sapphire blue necklace that was in the shape of an acorn. “Seems like oak is very important here.” He say and smiles, staring at it.

“Yes, it is. My brother earned the epithet, Oakenshield, in the battle of Azanulbizar many years ago. He fought off a great enemy with an oaken branch, proving that he was worthy to be king.” Dís says and looks at the acorn as well and then looks at the shop keeper. “We’ll take it.” She hands the shopkeeper some coin and takes the necklace. “Here.” She places it over Bilbo’s head and smiles as it rests on his chest.

“Thank you.” Bilbo says and smiles looking at it. “I’d like to hear more about this place, it’s history and the war that’s currently going on.”

“Why would you want to know about the war?”

“I want to see if I can help.” He says and stares at the acorn. “I want to go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! Another chapter so early on! I've had a lot of time on my hands so I've been thinking about how I want to take this story. There are going to be updates later with tags while I figure out what is going to happen later, and the rating may also change and become unsuitable for younger readers. 
> 
> Do not expect that the next chapter will be posted the day after this one, I had a lot of motivation to write this chapter but I do not know for how long. 
> 
> I do hope you enjoy this chapter. I know I enjoyed writing it. If there are any errors that stand out, please let me know! It will help me become a better writer. ^^
> 
> \- Madi :)


	3. Different Type Of History Lesson

Bilbo was sat at a large table, surrounded by books he could not read. “I appreciate you filling me in on all this history, but I cannot read your language.”

“Oh I am very aware of that. Still can’t believe Balin gave you one in Khuzdul. I brought you some books in common, that way you can read our history as well.” Dís says and smiles at him. “We have humans come in here all the time, curious on what they can learn. Seeking out advice as well.” She places her hand on one of the books and stares at it for a moment.

“We also have a scribe here, his name is Ori. He’ll be here if you have any questions.” Dís looked to her left and smiles wider. “Come on out Ori, he doesn’t bite.”

Out walked a short young man with a very interesting haircut. It looked like a combination of a mullet, and a really short bob. His outfit consisted of knitted wares.

“Hello.” He says, hiding behind a very large book. “I’m Ori, son of Kori, and brother of Dori and Nori.” He smiles and looks towards Dís. She gave him an encouraging nod before he walks over and sits next to Bilbo. “Is it true? You are an outsider?”

“It appears I am.” He says and looks at him. He saw no similarities to Dori, and he has no clue who this Nori brother is. “I’m from England.”

“England? Is that north of here?” Ori scoots closer, eyes full of wonder as he opens his very large book and began writing.

“Not… Not quite. It’s… How do I say this.” Bilbo looks towards Dís. She was watching in amusement. “It’s a portal away. I’m not actually from your world.”

Ori’s quill stopped as he stares at the paper before slowly looking towards Bilbo. His jaw dropped as he looked to Dís then back to Bilbo. “You are from the other world?” he says and smiles wide, probably the widest Bilbo had seen someone smile. “Tell me everything about it! What do you eat? What the city is like? How your people live. I want to know everything.” He says, dropping his heavy book on the table and taking both of Bilbo’s hands in his.

“Calm down Ori,” Dís says, chuckling quietly as she walks over. “Those questions can wait. Master Baggins came here to know about the war we are in.” She says and places a hand on Bilbo’s shoulder. “He wants to see if he can help.”

Ori looks at his princess before looking at Bilbo and smiling. “Of course. I’ll help you with everything.”

“With that, I’ll take my leave. Knowing my boys, they are probably getting into mischief. I’ll let them know you say hello.” Dís says as she gives Bilbo’s shoulder a squeeze before leaving the library.

Ori stares at Bilbo a bit longer before abruptly standing up and rushing over to the bookshelf. “Okay, we’ll start when The Red Dragon first showed up.” He says and slams a large book in front of Bilbo. “This was when Erebor was almost lost. Swarmed with fire and everything. It was a horrible day.”

Bilbo looked at the page and raises a brow. “Wait a second. When was this book written? Or the events take place.”

“About sixty years ago.”

“It says here that Thorin was there.”

“Yes. He was around…. his seventies.”

Bilbo stares at him in disbelief. “So you’re telling me, that this happened sixty years ago… Thorin was around seventy…. That would make him… over one hundred years old.”

“Sounds about right.” Ori raises a brow and slowly lifts his quill up. “Do you age differently?”

“More like you age abnormally slow.” Bilbo says looking at Ori. “How old are you exactly?”

“I’m quite young actually, I’m only seventy four. I’ll be of age in another year.” 

Bilbo felt as though his heart stopped. He looks away from Ori and then back at the book. “So this war… hmm… Has been going on for a hundred years… and you all age as slow as rock.”

“Precisely. You are catching on very quickly.”

“Right.” Bilbo bites his bottom lip and shakes his head. “This is a lot to take in, I must admit.” he says as he flips the page, seeing a drawing of a very large dragon storming the kingdom. “Umm… Ignoring the fact that you are all a lot older than I am, can you tell me of the dragon?”

“Oh of course.” Ori scoots closer and looks at the drawing and frowning. “The Fire Drake of the north. Attracted and jealous of Erebor’s wealth sought to obtain it by force. The line of Durin was strong that day and had remained so up till now. Golden eyes staring into ones soul and seeing their deepest desires.” Ori bites his bottom lip and stares at the next part.

“What? What is it?” Bilbo says and lifts his eyebrows. Looking at Ori and then the book.

“He cursed the Durin line. Well, most of it anyways. The thought of gold or the mere touch of a single coin will make the Durin line fall. Especially their prince. Thorin. The young prince then threw himself into training, avoiding gold at all costs and staying away from the treasury. He willingly volunteered to go to the battle of Azanulbizar, and earned his name and the crown.”

Ori let out a deep sigh and shut the book and stared at it for a little longer. “The dragon has a very large army of creatures called Orcs. Azog the defiler is the leader of the Orcs. Made for war. Made to wipe the Durin line off this earth.”

“I’m… I’m sorry to hear that. But clearly he didn’t succeed.”

Ori looks at Bilbo and frowns. “He killed Thorin’s grandfather, King Thrór. We don’t know what happened to his father but… we assume he was also lost in that battle. Our people lost a lot that day.”

“Why did that battle happen?”

“Thrór’s greed. The curse that the dragon had placed on him drove him to want more. He tried to take back the mines of Moria, lost to a battle long ago.”

Bilbo places a hand on Ori’s shoulder and looks at the book, he gently flipped it back open and stared at the dragon. He takes a deep breath. It looked familiar, that look. How it watched with so much anger hidden behind those golden eyes. Yet there was kindness hidden behind it. A strange corruption feeling came from it and it felt all too familiar.

“So this is where you are.” A voice came from the door, causing both Ori and Bilbo to jump and look up from the book.

Thorin stood in front of the table and looked at the two of them. “It appears as though you are catching up on our history.” He says and raises a brow as he picks up one of the books.

“I want to know what I can about this world if I’m going to be stuck here for a while.” Bilbo says and crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. “You do not look over one hundred…” He mutters and looks the king over, earning him a strange look.

“Well I am.” He says and looks at the necklace around Bilbo’s neck. “Where did you get that?”

“Your sister bought it for me in the market.” Bilbo says looking down at it. “I liked the colour.”

Thorin stares at Bilbo a bit longer and leans a bit closer before pulling back and huffing. “Learn what you can. I expect you to at least figure out why you are here.” He says before turning away and walking out of the room.

“What an ass.” Bilbo mutters and shakes his head.

—————————

Thorin bursts into his room, glaring at nothing in particular. He opens a drawer and pulls out a necklace, stopping in his track, he stares at it. It was a brown glass acorn, though in different light it would change to a green. Sometimes even a blue due to temperature. He glares at it for a moment and set it down on the table.

“Ah, seems you’ve caught on.” Dís says as she walks into the room and picks up the necklace and rests it in her hands. She looks at her brother.

Thorin growls as he walks to his bed and sits down, running his hand through his hair and then resting his face against his palms. “How can this be. An outsider of all the people.”

“Our Ones do not lie.”

“I will not believe it.” He says and looks at her. “I will not believe that Master Baggins is my One. No matter what.”

“You cannot pretend that he isn’t!” She shouts. She takes a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She turns away from he brother. “Our ones are important to us Thorin. They make us stronger than ever before. You cannot ignore this and pretend this is just some Noble trying to convince you that they are yours. You found your one, and he is in that room with Ori learning about _you."_

Thorin glares at his sister and stands up. “I do not care if he learns everything.” He says and pulls out the courting book. “As long as he doesn’t learn about our Ones then its fine.” He tosses the book onto the bed and looks back at his sister.

“You are a fool Thorin.”

“You don’t get it!” The king shouts. “If anyone finds out that I have a One, they’ll do what they can to hurt that One.” He says and takes a deep breath. “I don’t even know Master Baggins enough to know if it is true anyways.”

“You should have seen him at the market. He was curious and stared at his necklace with a longing.” She walks over to her brother and places a hand on his shoulder. “You should not feel as though you need to take on everything yourself.”

“As King—“

“As King, you still need a break in order to care for the kingdom. You still have that responsibility to yourself.” She says and places her hands on her hips. “You aren’t going to chase me away Thorin. I’m not going to leave and watch you become an empty husk.” She sighs and brushes a strand of hair out of Thorin’s face. “You need to accept that Bilbo is your One.”

———————————

Bilbo sits at the table, staring at books and raising a brow every so often. He lets out a yawn and realizes it’s already nightfall just by looking out the small window high on the wall.

“The windows are so small.” He says and rests on his arm.

Ori was putting away books and looks up at the window. “Ah, that’s so that thieves can’t get in. Like that stops them.” He says and chuckles.

“Oh? Do they come in a lot?”

“Only one. My brother Nori.” He says and walks over. “He’s older than me but younger than Dori. All have different fathers but, our mother never remarried so we are all sons of Kori. Nori’s sire took him when he was little and… well, turned him into a thief.” He says and shrugs.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Bilbo says and frowns.

“It’s fine now, but before it was horrible. He’d have to sneak in just to see me. Dori would practically beat him half dead if he were caught. Our relationship as a family has become better now, though Nori still prefers to be on his own and never alone with Dori.”

Bilbo looks at Ori and slowly nods his head. “So why does he still continue to steal?”

“Grew up that way.” He says with a shrug. “Can’t exactly shake something you were taught at a young age to do. Though mostly he sneaks in to get caught by Dwalin.”

“Dwalin? The big guy right?”

“Yep, that’s the one. Nori has been crushing on him for a very long time. I believe they are Ones.”

“Ones? I don’t understand?”

Ori looks at him and thinks for a moment. “Ones are where two souls are destined for one another. Attracted to one's eye colour. That’s how you find your One.” Ori says and smiles. “Once you find your once, they put their braid in your hair or beard.” He says. “My braids represent my family.”

“Soulmates... You think a thief and a guard are _soulmates?_ ” Bilbo couldn’t help but chuckle at how fitting it was. “They are complete opposites. I didn’t even see braids in Dwalins beard.”

Nodding, Ori looks for a book and frowns unable to find it. “I think it’s sort of a game at this point. Though sometimes Dwalin doesn’t find Nori and another guard does…” He pauses and looks down. “Some guards take torture too far. Almost bled Nori out once when he was little.” He says and walks back to the seat.

“Why would they do that? That sounds extremely medieval.”

“Well, it’s how they get information about things. If Dwalin hadn’t come in when he did… Nori would probably have died.” He shivers at the thought. “I’m just happy that he did.”

———————————

Nori plays with a knife in his hand, looking down at the crowd trying to pinpoint the nobles, who was stupid enough to put their coin purse on their belt, and where that wonderful broad back of Dwalins was.

He glances around and raises a brow, spotting a familiar sight of his mithril haired brother running around town carrying way too many clothes. He roll his eyes and hops down from his hiding space and intercepts his brother.

“Where are you off too in such a hurry?” He asks and raises a braided eyebrow.

Dori huffs and glares at Nori. “If you must know, I’m taking these to the princess. She wanted clothes made for her guests to replace his hideous attire.” Dori then looks Nori up and down and also scowls at his clothes.

“Oi, don’t you even say anything about what I’m wearing. It’s an improvement.” Nori says and looks around.

“Yes. It is, but still bad. Anyways, if you aren’t doing anything,” Dori places a large amount of clothes in Nori's hands. “Help me take these to the kingdom.”

“This late? What would the princess need with… mens clothes?” Nori asks as he balances the clothes and looks through them. Seeing a red jacket with a green vest as one of the outfits.

“Like I said, it’s for her guest. Well, the Kings guest.” Dori says as he starts to push his brother towards the kingdom.

“Well. That is a really weird thing to see. King doesn't usually have guests.” He mutters and walks towards the kingdom. “You know they won’t let me in.”

“They will if you actually help me and stay by my side.” Dori walks ahead of Nori and informs the guard that they are to see Princess Dís immediately. The guards look at Nori and raise a brow.

“You are aware that thief’s not allowed in here after last time.” The guard to the left of them said, Nori just rolled his eyes and muttered a curse.

“It was only that one fuckin’ time. I was putting it back.” Nori says and shrugs. He earned himself a nudge to his shoulder from Dori. “I’m just accompanying my pain in the ass brother to deliver clothes to Dís. Good enough?”

“Let them through.” A deep growl of a voice emerged from in front of them. The voice sent shivers up Nori’s back as he leans and gets a peek at a very muscular and perfect embodiment of their people.

“Why hello.” Nori says and smirks. “Are we getting a _private_ tour from the wonderful captain of the guard.”

Dwalin just rolls his eyes and looks at Nori as though he were a pest. Nori only responds with a wink and follows Dori in. Dwalin follows behind them, showing his knuckle busters off as a warning. Made Nori more intrigued about getting this giant into bed.

“So Dwalin. Did you ever find those jewels I took last time? Or was my hint not good enough?” Nori says and glances back at him. Dwalin tenses and glares.

“Your hints suck.” He says and huffs as he keeps close to them.

“Really? I thought that hint was really well done if I must say so myself.” Nori looks at his brother who shook his head.

“I’m sorry Master Dwalin. My brother doesn’t know when to shut his mouth.” Dori says as he continued walking.

“Oh my mouth can do several other things as well.” Nori muttered quietly, causing Dwalin to almost choke in the back.

They remain silent the rest of the way while they walk through the vast halls of Erebor. Nori personally didn’t enjoy being in the castle aside from sneaking a glance at Dwalin. It felt to enclosed. Not enough ways to get out from. He looked for an escape route while talking, but this was a strong hold for a reason. Very hard to break into, and get out.

“Stop looking around thief. I know what you’re planning.” Dwalin says and looks at him.

“Oh do you? Well, did you ever consider that you may have a lot of weak points that I’m just… observing.” He slows down to walk next to Dwalin. “You can act like you hate me all you want. We both know that you wouldn’t have saved me if you did.” He looks into Dwalin’s eyes and smiles crooked at him before speeding up to catch up with Dori.

Dori was already knocking on the princesses door.

“Ah! Dori, perfect timing.”

“Sorry it had taken so long. I got carried away.” Dori blushes as he looks over at the pile of clothes in his brother’s hand.

“I can see that, but it’s perfect nonetheless. I’ll lead you to his room so we can place the clothes there. He’s currently talking to Ori in the library.” Dís says and looks at Nori and smiles. “And hello Master Nori. It’s very good to see you again.”

Nori nods his head and smiles. “Very good to see you as well princess.”

Dís had always allowed Nori to sneak into the kitchen. Even hid him under her dress at one point and sat on him. For several hours. Nori owed his life to her after that.

“Come, let us hurry.” She turns and starts to lead the way. Nori snuck glances at Dwalin every so often. Lifting his chin up at snobbish nobles who scowled as they passed and whispered their pointless rumors.

They arrive at Bilbo’s assigned room and saw he was still not in the room. “Let’s put them away in the closet, then in the morning I’ll inform him they’ve arrived. For now, Dori, could you put the nightgown on the bed?” She asks and takes some of the clothes out of Nori’s hands and started to put them away.

Once all the clothes were away. Dís smiles at them and bows her head. “Thank you very much for all your help.” She says and smiles. “Now, I shall have Dwalin escort you home safely.” She then gasps and looks at Dori. “Oh wait, Dori, if it’d be alright. I wanted to discuss the Durin’s Day Ball.”

“Of course. It’d be my honour.”

“Great. Dwalin. Please escort Master Nori to his home. It is quite dangerous at night don’t you think?” She smirks and winks at Nori.

Nori and Dwalin turn and lock eyes together before they both turn and look at Dís. Nori burst out laughing as he looks towards Dwalin.

“You are quite hilarious princess but, I don’t need a guard to walk me home.” Nori says shaking his head.

“Oh I’m very serious Nori.” She says, instantly silencing him. “With how the war is going, we don’t know who could be attacked in the streets. So, to be safe. I want someone to escort you home for the night. No one here is worthy enough than Dwalin in my opinion.”

Dwalin remained silent, but the anger showed on his face and in his fists. They flexed as he tries to calm down.

“Now, off you go.” She shooed them out of the room. Hearing the door shut behind them. Nori looks at the floor and whistles loudly.

“So… Off we go now.” He says and starts to walk. “You know you don’t _really_ have to walk me home. I’m perfectly find managing myself and my own skin.”

“Don’t care.” Dwalin responds and sighs. “Let’s just get this over with.” He begins to walk and looks back at Nori. “Come on.”

Nori rolls his eyes and follows behind, much quicker than he’d have liked but, nonetheless. He looks around and spots some of the ladies checking Dwalin out. “Still surprised none of em’ snatched you up.” He says and looks back at Dwalin’s back. The warg fur that rested on his shoulders made his back look so much bigger.

“Not interested.” He says and looks over his shoulder and stops, waiting for Nori to stand next to him before walking again. He looks ahead, silent and handsome as always.

Nori clicks his tongue and looks ahead as well. They walk out of the kingdom and towards Dori’s store. “We can stop here. After all, this is my home…” He says and looks at the door.

Dwalin raises a brow and sighs, running a hand over his scalp before looking at Nori. “Why aren’t you staying here.” He says and places his hands at his sides.

“What do you mean? I’m staying here.”

“Your clothes are dirty and you don’t smell the best. Why are you staying in the bad rock? I thought you figured everything out already?”

Oh, that’s what Dwalin meant. Nori looked down at his clothes. “Comfort. I grew up in it so it’s comfort to me.” He says and shrugs. “Thieves will never understand luxury.” He spat at the last word. His brother desperately wanted to become a noble, or just to live like one somehow. Ori just enjoyed being a scribe in the mountain. But Nori? Nori didn’t know what else he could be.

“Look, the bad rock is called that for a reason. If you were to sleep there tonight—“

“Then what?”

“Then I’d feel responsible for what happens to you, if something happened. I wouldn’t shake the feeling of it being my fault.” Dwalin says and looks away from Nori.

Nori stares at him and smiles slightly. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll stay with my brothers tonight just to make you feel comfortable.” He says as he places his hand on the handle and pulls. He turns and looks at Dwalin before turning away and walking inside, shutting the door behind him.

He leans against the door, listening as he hears silence. Then large footsteps walking away. Nori let out a sigh and slides down the door and wraps his arms around his legs.

“Nori you fool.” He whispered before getting up, and getting ready for bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been way too invested in this, but I'm enjoying it and it appears that people are too. I've been adding more different views of different character. Been very fun to write. I'm actually going to try to post a chapter a day, except on Tuesdays. There's no way anything is getting written on Tuesdays. If I don't post every day, then it may just be cause I'm busy or still writing. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter! (I also couldn't come up with a creative title so, yeah.)
> 
> \- Madi


	4. Steamy Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, reason I'm putting this up here is because there is torture mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. It only goes for the extent of Dwalin's part, once it gets to the others then it is fine to read. No violence mentioned.  
> When there are warnings, I'll be posting notes at the top to warn you of them and inform you of when they stop.
> 
> I do plan on doing a time skip thing. Probably next chapter to get things moving. I'll also be taking on the roll of different characters so more will be introduced later.
> 
> I am also very happy to see that people are enjoying this story, I've been happy with how I'm writing it. I really hope I'm doing the characters justice. 
> 
> Thank you for all the support!!!
> 
> -Madi

Dwalin walked home after dropping off Nori, he let out a sigh and remembered. He remembered the guilt of finding Nori in a pool of his own blood, laying still on the floor of the torture chamber. The torturer laughing and saying to leave him for dead.

Nori was younger then, so was he. He had walked in to the chamber while on shift, seeing if he could convince a prisoner to talk. Stole some sapphire jewels and wasn’t saying anything about where he had put them. So Dwalin was sent to get that information out of him.

He never expected to see the torturer to go this far. Dwalin couldn’t hold back and slammed his fist into the torturer and continued. Hit after hit till the bastards nose was broken. He pulled himself off and spat on him.

“You have no right!” He shouts and turns to the young boy on the floor and gently picks him up. “Call Oin! _Now!_ ” He roars as he rushes him out of the cell.

Dwalin looks down at the man in his arms and into his fading eyes. A golden brown, the one that he sought after for so long. Dwalin looks at him and tares his eyes away and lays him down. He looks at the wound and hisses. The boy was far too weak to even flinch.

“Stay with me…” Dwalin says quietly, placing a hand on the boys cheek and turns towards the door once it opened. Oin, the best healer around, rushed past Dwalin. He even pushed him aside and looked Nori over. He sighs and shakes his head.

“He’s very weak lad… He may not make it.” He says as he pulls out his kit and started to get to work.

“N…” The boy quietly said as he kept his eyes on Dwalin. “Nori…” He whispers as tears drip down his cheeks. “my… name…” Nori's eyes flutter closed as his breathing slowed. Oin places his hand on top of his wound and closes his eyes. There was a glow and the wound healed into a scar. A large one that will never heal.

“Find the lads mother, inform her that he’s here and of what’s happened.” Dwalin says to some of the guards. “Go!” They quickly leave the room and rush through the streets.

“Your lucky I got here when I did. He would have died any later.” Oin stands and sighs. He looks at Dwalin and places a hand on his shoulder.

Dwalin snaps out of his memory, finding himself standing in front of his house. He didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but when he had finally entered, he found it empty. He run his calloused hands over his face and sat down in one of the chairs. He blamed himself for not being there earlier. For not stopping the torturer before he had made the cut.

He had no right to be Nori’s One. 

————————————

Bilbo stood at the door of his room and raises a brow. There was something… different about it. He raises a brow and lets out a sigh as he flops onto the bed. Wrapping himself in his blanket and nuzzling into it. He then spotted the new fabric and sits up.

“Is this a… dress?” Lifting it up, he saw all the intricate patterns on it. His eye twitched as he stands up. “They are to my measurements…”

Bilbo lets out a sigh and slips out of his pajamas. He had been in them the whole day, so it made sense to change into something clean. “Oh! A bath sounds great.” he says and smiles as he then stares at the nightgown. “Where… where is the bathroom…” He mutters and glanced around his room rapidly and saw no sign of a bathroom.

Poking his head out of the door, he makes his way quietly down the hall. Glancing around as he held a towel close to him. He saw a few people leaving from one room, hair wet but a refreshed look on their face.

“It’s late so everyone should be gone.” He says as he creeps into the room and sighs, shutting the door behind him as he walks into the room. He spots pools of steam and a wash station.

“This will do.” He says and smiles as he walks over to the wash station, pouring the water over his head and sighing in relief. He smiles and hums as he scrubs at his arms and legs. He stares at the two bottles and poured a little bit of both in his hands, then scrubbed it through his hair.

Once he finished, he climbed into the steaming water. Sliding to where his nose was just above the water. He smiles and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and leaning back in the water.

“What are you doing?”

Bilbo opens his eyes, opening his mouth and choking on water. He jumps up and hits his chest and tries to catch his breath. He turns and looks at Thorin, standing above him and looking down. He held a towel around his lips and raised a brow looking at him.

Bilbo’s cheeks went bright red as he turned his head away from him.

“You do know that it’s the kings time to bathe?” Thorin asks as he hangs his towel up and walks to the wash station. “Hadn’t Balin told you?”

“I—I’m so sorry. I’ll get out now.” He says as he turns to climb out.

“No need, you’re already in there.” Thorin replied quickly, running his fingers through his hair and looking away from Bilbo.

Bilbo stared at Thorin’s back for a moment, seeing scars from war, before sitting back down in the water. He wiggles his nose and leans back. He closes his eyes and listens as Thorin washes off and climbs in the same pool as him.

The two sit in silence and look away from one another, as if avoiding eye contact.

“So… how were your kingly duties?” Bilbo asks turning and facing him.

Thorin looks up and locks eye contact with Bilbo. “Annoying nobles and their useless opinions. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me. I have annoying cousins who constantly try to steal my spoons.” Bilbo mutters and shakes his head. _”Lobita…”_

Thorin couldn’t help but snort at how Bilbo muttered that name, it was as though it were a curse. Bilbo blushes as he listens to Thorin laugh and then smiles.

“I never thought you could laugh. Always such a serious expression.” Bilbo says as he closes his eyes and rests his head back once more.

“I laugh when I can, or no ones around.” Thorin leans back as well, looking at Bilbo. “Though I use to laugh a lot more when I was younger.” He says. The side of his lip curled into a slight smile as he recalls a better time.

“Why’d you stop? Does being king really suck all the joy out of life?”

“In a way.” Thorin rubs his hand behind his neck and sighs. “It’s more like, you have to be someone that everyone looks up to. It’s exhausting.”

Bilbo nods his head and looks at Thorin, his head resting sideways. “I bet. Not to mention you’ve gone through so much, getting the throne… I would say young, but in my world it’s pretty old.”

Thorin chuckles lightly and sits up, leaning forward a bit to look at him. “You… You are so much different than when you first stormed into the war room this morning.”

“Yes, well earlier you sister hadn’t swept me away to the kitchen, or take me into the market.” Shaking his shoulders, Bilbo sinks deeper into the water. “Plus, it’s a reasonable response to being kidnapped.”

“I didn’t kidnap you.”

“You did. Thorin, you did.” Bilbo frowns and sits up. “I know it was apart of some… prophecy but, it’s not something I knew about nor intended on fulfilling. Now I feel obligated too.”

“I was just—“

“I know you were following a sign, and somehow it lead to me. I don’t know if I’m any help. How could I be? I grew up in London, had a disaster of a love life, I am a history professor with a poor pay. I’m not a fighter, or someone who really understands strategy.”

“You are here for a different purpose Bilbo.” Thorin scoots closer to Bilbo. “I’ve seen men ready themselves for war, and I’ve seen what it’s like on a battlefield. But never have I seen someone so determined to go home.” He places a hand on Bilbo’s cheek and lifts his head to look at him.

“Thorin I…” Bilbo’s vision became dizzy as his eyes roll to the back and he passes out, leaning against Thorin’s chest.

Bilbo woke in another room unfamiliar to him. Groaning, he sits up and looks around. “What… what happened.”

“You passed out.” Thorin’s voice was heard towards a dresser, his hands gently combing his hair.

“Ah, sorry for the inconvenience.” Bilbo says and moves to climb off the bed. He looks at his body and realised he was wearing the nightgown. “Did you—“

“Dress you? Yes. Couldn’t just let you sleep on my bed naked.” He says and looks over before standing up. He walks over to Bilbo and looks at the nightgown. “It suits you. But you should really head to your room before anyone sees that you stayed in mine for a bit.”

“Ah, yes.” Bilbo looks into Thorin’s eyes. “I will…” He says quietly. “I’m sorry, your eyes… They are the same colour as my necklace.” He says and tilts his head slightly.

“Is that so?”

“Yes…” Quickly pulling his eyes away, Bilbo clears his throat and takes a deep breath. “I’ll be taking my leave.” He pushes past Thorin and stops at the door before turning back and looking at him. “Thanks again, for drying me off and… changing me.” Bilbo says and bows before quickly leaving the room.

He rushes to his room, shutting the door and jumping into his blanket. 

“I can’t believe I fainted and the King dressed me! My mother would be so disappointed!” He says and begins to chuckle. “No… not disappointed. She’d ask for details.” He lays on his blanket and takes a deep breath in, relaxing and drifting off to sleep.

————————————

Dís sits in her room and hums lightly, listening as Víli tinkered with a piece of jewelry. Standing up, she walks over to him and wraps her arms around him and kisses his cheek. “You should really head to bed my love.”

“I will.” He looks at her and places a gentle whisper of a kiss against her lips. “I’m almost finished making you a new ring. I had asked Thorin if it was alright if I could make it for you with this jewel.” He turns and looks at her. It was a brown diamond, a rare find, with a lining of gold.

Giggling slightly as she pulls over a chair and sits down and looks at it. “It matches you.” She says and looks at him. “I love it.” She places a hand on his cheek. “But you must go to bed, you have a busy day at the mine tomorrow don’t you?”

Víli nods and leans into her hand, kissing her palm gently and looking at her with his sweet puppy dog eyes. “What would I ever do without you?”

“For one thing, you wouldn’t sleep.” She says and takes his hands, pulling him from his seat and leading him into bed and pulling the covers over him. “Now. My stinky husband. You need rest, and a bath in the morning.”

Víli moans as soon as he rested on the mattress, smiling wide as his love pulled the covers over him. He took her hand and places another kiss on it before passing out completely. Dís smiles as she uses her other hand to brush golden strands from his face.

“I love you.” She whispers before pulling her hand away and walking to the other side, climbing in and wrapping her arms around her husband and holding him close. “Don’t leave me okay?”

Groaning a response. Víli turns to face her, wrapping an arm around her and holding her close to him. Eyes closed the whole time as he nuzzles against her raven hair.

Dís rests her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat like she did each night. Drifting off to sleep.


	5. That's a Big Ram

Bilbo stares at one of the books, flipping through the pages though not taking in a lick of information. He had been in Erebor for about six months now, and so far he feels as though he’s just a burden. He wasn't able to help plan for war, mostly cause he didn't know _how._ He still hasn't even figured out how to get home, even if it's after the war it should have been written down somewhere.

Slamming the book down and letting out a defeated sigh, he slouches in his seat and looks up at the window. He didn’t know when he would return home, of _if_ he would be able to at this point.

Not to mention his relationship with Thorin has developed slightly. They talk as though they are friends… only in the bathhouse though. Bilbo covers his face, cheeks going red as he shakes it repeatedly.

“Seems like you aren’t enjoying your book.” An unfamiliar voice says, causing Bilbo to peek through his fingers. He looks at a very tall man, light beard, no braids. Deep brown eyes.

“Quite. I’m just having a hard time concentrating on it.”

The man laughs and walks over. “Do you mind?” He asks as he peeks over Bilbo’s shoulder at the book. “Ah, it’s about Gale.”

“Yes. Ori recommended that I read it. Need to know about the first place taken by the dragon of course.” He says and shrugs. “Where are my manners. I’m Bilbo Baggins.” Extending his hand out. The other man takes it and shakes it.

“Bard. Bard of Lake Town.”

“Very nice to meet you Bard. What brings you all the way from Lake Town?” Bilbo looks back at the book and flips the page.

“Came here to read. Lake Town doesn’t have many books aside from ones the Master has.” Reaching over, he grabs a book and looks at the title before opening the book. He was very careful with it, as though he was afraid it’d break.

“Why does the master have all the books?” Bilbo asks frowning, no one should keep books to themselves. Especially when they don’t read it.

“Show his wealth to be honest.” He flips the page, quickly reading the first page and then flipping to the next. Bilbo raises a brow looking at him.

He clears his throat and looks at Bard. “You should read a bit slower, that way you can absorb what the book is trying to tell you.” He says as he leans forward, getting a look at the title. “Especially about the book of Kings.”

Bard nods his head and chuckles. “You are right, though I don’t usually stay here long enough to enjoy the book.”

“You could ask to borrow it.” Bilbo says with a shrug. “I always borrow books, right now I have a stack I need to bring back.” He rubs the back of his neck and groans. “Though with all the books I’ve read, hardly any have spoken of the dragon.”

Turning to Bard, Bilbo noticed that the man had frozen in place. “Bard?”

“Do not speak of that creature so casually. It’s a warning for you Bilbo.” He says and shakes his head. “That creature changes his shape into that of a man. Your going to be wanting to look for that.” Bard says quietly and looks around, hearing the doors to the library open. “I must take my leave now.”

The man quickly stands up, then places a different book in front of Bilbo. It looked as though it was a handwritten journal. “This will tell you the description of him.” He nods his head and turns, walking to the door and disappearing down the hall.

“Umm… Goodbye?” Bilbo says and looks at the book. It was leather bound, and very old. Appears to have been read several times. Bilbo tucked it into his pocket and patted it before looking back at the door.

“Ori, I think I’m going to retire for the rest of the day.” He says and smiles at the young scribe.

“Did you find anything new? Do you need me to sign it out?” Ori leaned over, looking at Bilbo from two rows down.

“No. I think I’m quite good.” He says as he stands up, picking up his coat and walking towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you Bilbo!” Ori shouts back, greeted with a bunch of shushes from others in the library. “Oh, sorry.” He says and returns to what he was doing.

———————————

Smaug stares at the crystal ball that rests at the end of his throne. He runs his claws over it and smirks. “Let’s see what our little Oakenshield is doing.” He says as an image appears on the screen.

He see’s Thorin sitting in on the Throne, looking through papers and grumbling about stupid stuff. Smaug couldn’t help but chuckle as he watches. “Oh you are so gullible. Sending troops to the east when we are going to attack where you cannot see.”

“My Lord.” One of the orcs walked into his treasure room, looking around at all the gold that surrounded the great dragon.

“What do you want.” Smaug always detested orcs. They weren’t pretty like gold was, or as valuable. “Make it quick.”

The orc bows quickly and twitches. The piercings on its nose were silver, and of no interest to Smaug.

“It appears that, news has reached up that Thorin had brought an outsider into his kingdom.”

Smaug raises a brow and looks at the crystal ball and then back at the orc. “An outsider? From lake town? Maybe from Rivendell or Mirkwood?” He says and places a hand under his chin.

The orc only shook his head. “We do not know where he is from. But he stands out like no other.”

Squinting, Smaug rises from his throne and looks around him. “Well, this is quick curious. What could an outsider bring to the table.” He says and chuckles as he walks down towards the orc and places a hand under his chin. “Bring me more news on the outsider. I’ll try to find him on the crystal ball.” He says and then grabs the orcs neck, listening to the satisfying choking of this hideous creature.

“Y—Yes! My lord!” He says as he was then dropped. Smaug cringes at the gross feeling that was now on his hand.

“Now go, tell Agog to send his troops in for a surprise attack on Lake Town. The king is to be there in a few hours.” He says as he flicks his wrist and turns away from the orc. “I’ll be watching."

The creature rushes out of the room. Smaug looks at the crystal ball and growls as he stares at Oakenshield talking to his men.

“You won’t win _Oakenshield._ I’ll be sure of it.”

——————————————

Thorin groans as he reads some of the letters from nobles, wanting a seat at the war table. “Why, why is it always people who have not seen war who want to say something about it.” He growls as he sets the letters down. He rubs his head and lets out a defeated sigh.

“Maybe we should just throw them into war.” Dwalin says with a shrug as he stands next to Thorin. “That’ll teach them to mind their own damn business.”

“Though I like the thought of witnessing that, I cannot bring myself to do it.” Thorin says with a chuckle. He stands and stretches. “I have to head to Lake Town this afternoon.” He rubs his neck and cracks his knuckles.

“Are you going to bring Bilbo this time?” Dawns looks at Thorin as he adjusts his leather arm strap.

“You think I should?”

“He’s been curious about it. After all, he is quite curious about things.”

Thorin nods his head and looks at him. “I guess I will then. I’ll go ask him now.”

As Thorin leaves, Dís walks in and spots Dwalin. Smirking, she approaches him.

“Thorin asking Bilbo to Lake Town?”

“Yep.” Dwalin responds nodding his head.

“Finally! They’ve been pinning for one another for so long, it’s about time.” Dís says and pats his shoulder. “Thank you for getting him to make a move. Now do yourself a favor. Go ask that thief out.” Dís says as she walks in the direction Thorin went.

Dwalin stands there, speechless.

————————————

Bilbo flips through the journal and frowns. Reading of how the dragon became a tall man with dark red hair, golden eyes and pale skin. Strong cheekbones and a slim body. It all sounded so familiar.

Jumping once hearing a knock at the door, he tucks the book away. “C—Come in.” he says as he sits up on his bed.

Thorin walks in. “Sorry for startling you. I had to ask you a question.”

“Had to?” Bilbo raises a brow and crosses his arms. “Well. Ask away.” He says and smiles.

“I’m heading into Lake Town for a meeting with the Master. I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me into town.”

“Your allowing me to go with you to Lake Town?” Bilbo stands slowly and walks a bit closer to Thorin.

“Only if you want too. I’m not going to force you to go.”

“I’d love to!” Bilbo’s excitement caused Thorin to flinch a bit. “I’d like to actually visit the place, I hear it’s beautiful.”

“It once was. Still is in a way, we send our trades through it. But the Master is a selfish man and tends to let his people starve. I’m going there to see if we can change that.”

Bilbo nods as he grabs a bag. “Alright. I’m ready.”

“You’ll need a coat.”

Bilbo quickly turns, grabs a coat off a hanger, throws it on and looks at Thorin. “Let’s hurry and go, I want to see Lake Town.” He says, practically pushing the king out of his room and rushing towards the entrance.

“We’ll be staying there for three days. Riding there by ramback.” Thorin chuckles at the smaller man stops in his tracks.

“Ramback? That’s a weird saying for horses.”

———————————

Bilbo stares at very very large rams. “These… these are rams.”

“Yes. They are.” Thorin says as he gently pets ones side and looks at Bilbo. “They can climb up rock and last the cold up here a lot better than horses. And they also keep the grass mowed in the spring.”

Bilbo slowly walks over and reaches his hand out. The ram absolutely towered over him. Thorin quietly walked over and took Bilbo’s hand and places it on the snout of the ram. “She likes to be pet.”

Bilbo’s face practically glows as he pets the ram, hand under Thorns. He turns his head and looks at Thorin and smiles. “She’s really soft.”

“Yes.” Thorin looks down at Bilbo and blushes, pulling his hand away and clearing his throat. “We should go if we are to get there on time.”

“I agree though, one problem. I don’t know how to ride a horse.” Bilbo looks at Thorin.

“I guess you will be riding with me then.” Thorin kept his back towards Bilbo.

“Here then, take my coat.” He says, drapes his overly large coat over Bilbo, the hood covering his face. He then lifts the other up on top of the ram and then climbs on after.

“I wasn’t expecting that.” Bilbo says as he grips onto the saddle.

Thorin chuckles as he wraps his arms around Bilbo in order to hold the reigns. “Hold on.” He says into Bilbo’s ear before the ram took off, trotting down the mountain with an alarming amount of speed.


	6. Mine

The trip to Lake Town was long, even on ramback does it feel like it took forever. Thorin holds Bilbo up as they moved over rocky terrain. The man falling asleep soon after the trip started.

Thorin looks down at the mop of golden curls, he adjusts himself to where he had one arm around the man and one on the reigns.

Balin rides next to him and smirks as he watches. “Seems like he falls asleep when traveling.” He says as he looks around them, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. “Why not just ask the lad out?”

“I did. He’s here isn’t he.” Thorin says and looks ahead of them.

“This isn’t a date.” Balin says and shakes his head. “A blind man could see that this isn’t a date.”

“Not in a while. I have gone on dates before.”

“Oh you have _got_ to be joking!” Dwalin shouts from behind. “You hadn’t had a fuckin’ date ever.”

Thorin rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Well, at least I’m trying. Unlike a curtain someone.”

“Both of you knock it off. Your acting like children.” Balin says and shakes his head, as though he was a disappointed father. Even though he was a few years older than Thorin.

Thorin chuckles as he looks ahead towards Lake Town. He gently shakes Bilbo awake as they finally get onto a smooth road.

Groggy, Bilbo looks around and sees a large lake with a small town in the center. It looked as though there was ice around it, and a large forest surrounding both sides.

“Are we there yet?” He asks, rubbing his eyes and looking up at Thorin. Not even processing the arm around his waist.

“Almost. Another thirty minutes or so and we’ll be in Lake Town.”

“I see.” Bilbo licks his lips and looks towards the forest. He squints his eyes slightly.

Thorin raises a brow and follows Bilbo’s eyes and looks towards the forest. “Is there something there?”

“I think? I’m not sure. I think it may just be my eyes.” Leaning back against Thorin’s chest, Bilbo stares at the forest for a moment longer before looking towards Lake Town. “So, tell me about this place?”

“It’s a trading port, though for some reason it’s not as wealthy as it should be. People are starving and just trying to get by. All but the Master.” Thorin frowns, glaring towards the town. “I worry he may be holding back on his people.”

“What a prick.” Bilbo mutters shaking his head. “Anyone who takes advantage of their position are pricks and nothing can change that.”

Thorin nods and looks down at Bilbo. “I can agree to that.”

———————————

Smaug growls as he watches Thorin ride into Lake Town, though the hood covered the outsider who rode with him. “Damn it!” He hissed, slamming his fist and causing orcs to screech in shock.

He stands and walks down the steps in a hurried pace. “I must know who that outsider is. No matter what.” He snaps his fingers, his figure began to change shape. He no longer looked like a tall handsome man.

His hips widened and hair grew longer. Breast began to grow and robes became a dress. He stopped at a golden mirror and looked at his appearance. Sharp cheekbones still remained, but other than that, he appeared as though he were a rich female. He spun around in his red dress and smirks.

“Oh this is going to be _fun_. How do I look?”

The Orcs stare at him for a moment before attempting to mutter compliments. 

“Oh shut up.” He turns and looks towards the entrance, his wings expanding as he leaves his wonderful hoard. “If any of you touch a single coin, you’re my next meal.” He threatened as he takes off, flying towards the outskirts of Lake Town.

Landing in the woods, he was able to make great time due to the increase in wind. Though it was unusual that it would be this windy, it worked in his favor. 

He watches from the woods as he sees Thorin still a few minutes away from the town. The unknown man was looking in his general direction, causing him to duck behind a tree. The great Smaug, hiding from a simple outsider. _Pathetic!_

Waiting for the right moment was key, he had to make sure that Thorin wasn’t with the outsider when he approached.

Peeking over the tree, his eyes widen as the man removes his hood. “Bilbo…” He was surprised. “That cannot be.” His claws dug into the tree as he stares at him. He watches the shorter man be lifted off of the ram by Thorin, stumbling slightly and leaning against the other as though they were love sick.

Smoke rose from Smaug’s slips as he watched. He forces his head away, shaking it rapidly. That couldn’t be his Bilbo. That Bilbo was in London. This couldn’t be his Bilbo.

He had to see for himself. Adjusting his dress and waving away the cloud of smoke, he walks into town and ignored everyone who stared. He had his eyes on one thing, and one thing only. 

_______________________

Kíli had managed to slip away from his guards, walking around the market around Erebor. He grabs an apple and hands a coin to the store keep before walking past a curtain jewelry shop.

The woman smiles at the prince, her short hair tucked behind her ears and her colorful eyes watch him. “Ah, hello Prince Kíli. What may I do for you today?”

Kíli looks at her wears and then at her, tucking the apple away in his back pocket. “I was wondering what you sold exactly.”

“I sell simple necklaces.” She says, lifting one up and looking at it. “Each shape is unique, along with each meaning.” Placing it back down, she looks at the prince. “You may pick one if you’d like too. Let your eyes draw you to the one you like.”

Kíli’s eyes gloss over the necklaces that lay before him, then from the back of the shop he sees one. It was in the shape of a star made of a glowing green gem. The metal coiled around the edges as though they were branches from a tree, and chain was a red metal that Kíli had never seen before.

“That one.” He says pointing past the woman.

She looks where he pointed and picks up the necklace, looking it over before looking back at the prince. “This one? Are you sure?”

Kíli nods eagerly. “It’s my favorite shade of green.” He says, smile spreading across his face.

The shopkeeper gently picks the necklace up before she hands it to him. “Free of charge.” She wraps his hands around it and gently pats.

“You know, there’s a lot of talk about you being able to lead someone to their ones.” He says as he looks at his hands, then gently rubbing the gem with his thumb. “is it true?”

“Who knows.” She pulls her hands away and looks at him. “After all, I am only a simple store keep.” She bows her head and heard another voice approaching. “Seems like your brother is looking for you. You best be off.”

Kíli places the necklace around his neck, admiring it for a moment before looking back at her. “Thank you!” He waves goodbye and rushes to find his brother.

The store keeper looks at the necklaces and smirks slightly. Everything was working out _exactly_ how it was destined too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me a while to upload this chapter, I had a lot of work to do. It is also a lot shorter because I was in sort of a rush to upload it. I do hope there aren't a lot of errors in it and that the next chapter will have a lot more added detail. This will be one of the shortest chapters I will write (hopefully).
> 
> One thing to notice in this fic is that it is fast paced, I'm going to try slowing things down later on as well but that may require longer times on chapter. Meaning slower updates. 
> 
> I am also so so so happy to read the comments that are being left on this story, it really makes me want to write more and more. Also hopefully never abandon it. 
> 
> I'll try to be more on time with my updates, but I don't have a set time during the day to upload them. 
> 
> Also, just so you know. The shop keeper is a self insert of me! Surprise! Because I am shipper trash, I chose to be the one person in the story giving them clues to their Ones. That's just a little fun fact about the shop keeper.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> -Madi


	7. Horrible Dreams and Horrible People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does have abuse mention and told from that point of view. A memory recalled. It takes place after a talk between Bilbo and Bard, so just a warning that it will be after that part. It is safe once that section is over. 
> 
> I'm also sorry I didn't post the other day, I was going too but fell asleep while typing. 
> 
> -Madi

Thorin walks through town, Bilbo by his side and the smell of fish surrounding the town. He looks towards the Masters home, sitting in the middle of town with as much pride as a cell block.

He looks towards Bilbo who didn’t look at the homes, he was looking at the people. “These poor souls…” He whispers as he looks at Thorin. “We are going to help them, right?”

Nodding his head, Thorin smiles at Bilbo. “I’m going to make sure that that Master doesn’t see a single coin till his people are taken care of.” He stops when he sees a giant statue of the Master.

“God, is that him? What a pretentious twat.” Bilbo says shaking his head and moving forward.

“Twat? I quite like that.” Dwalin says and chuckles as he looks around and watches the crowd gathering.

The group walk over boards that lead to more boards and, you guessed it, more boards. Standing in front and looking around them before hearing the door open.

He was quite surprised to see a very hideous man, instead of the already hideous Master.

“What you want. The Master is a very busy man and doesn’t have time for useless talks.” He says, slouching forward. It also appeared that he had shit on his shoulder.

“Thorin, King under the mountain. I had a scheduled meeting with the Master. He should be prepared to meet.” He says and rolls his eyes as he looks at the crowd.

The doors suddenly swing open. The Master walked out with a woman clinging to his arm. She looks at Thorin and smiles before locking eyes on Bilbo. Thorin took a step forward, making sure Bilbo was behind him.

“Ah! My King, what brings you here.” The Master says.

“Our meeting. I must talk to you about the condition that Lake Town is in.” He says and crosses his arms. “I even sent a raven to inform you that I was coming.”

“Yes yes yes, I remember now. I got… Distracted.” He says and looks at the woman before looking at Thorin. “Come in, please.” He moves to the side, stretching his hand out to gesture them in.

Moving forward, the group walks in and looks around. Thorin evades his eyes from the gold coins that littered the floor.

“Don’t mind those, they get… misplaced when heading towards the vault.” The Master says, the woman still clinging to his arm but looking over her shoulder. She was watching them.

“So, who's the outsider.” She says finally. Voice a bit deeper than expected, and very must with a growl.

“I am Bilbo Baggins. I wouldn’t really count myself as an outsider anymore. After all, I have remained in the kingdom for a couple of months now.”

“A couple of months?” Her eyes widen as she studies him. Tilting her head and smiling wide. “I must hear all about it. I heard the great halls of Erebor are quite... _precious."_

Bilbo looks at her and frowns. “I’m sorry. Have we… Have we met before?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m a hard girl to forget.” She says, giving the masters arm a little squeeze, causing him to stop.

“How about, we go in and have our meeting and Ms… Ms. Scarlet can lead Bilbo around town.” The Master says as he turns and looks at them.

Thorin raises a brow and glares. “No, I’d rather show Bilbo around myself thank you.”

They walk into a large room filled with empty seats, gold laying around the room. “Seems like you do a piss poor job at cleaning.” Dwalin says, crossing his arms and blocking the gold from Thorin’s sight.

Thorin gives him a nod before sitting down and looking at the Master. He was a very ugly man, with his crooked smile. Much like his crooked soul.

“What is it that the King wanted to talk about hmm?”

“I wanted to talk about a election.” As those words left Thorin’s lips, the Master spat his wine on the table.

“An election? That’s preposterous. I won’t hear of it.”

“Well, clearly you haven’t heard anything. Your people are starving, trying to stay warm in this cold. And you are here. Warm and surrounded by coin that is clearly not yours.” Thorin frowns and leans on the table. “I’ve already talked to one of your people, one who _speaks_ for the people. I’ve received letters telling me that he’d make the best choice as Master, maybe even as a king.”

The Master was speechless. He tried to form words but they weren’t forming at all.

“I’ve been helping this young man learn the ways of being a good leader. One that you clearly are not. Now, that is all I have to say to you,” Thorin stands and looks at the former master. “You have two days to pack your belongings and leave. You are not to touch a single coin that isn’t yours. The money will be used properly and not for someone's personal benefits.”

There was suddenly laughter from the other end of the table. The woman, Ms. Scarlet clapped her hands and stands up. “Bravo my King.” She says as she walks over, fingertips running over coins. “You do know that he has jewels that are from your mountain as well.” She says and leans against a chair, back towards the rest but eyes locked onto Thorin. They were golden.

“I don’t care about the coin from my mountain, I can have my men collect it later if needed. For now, I will take my leave and head to where I may rest.” He looks back at the Master. “Oh, and take your little goblin with you as well. We are done here.”

“Did he just… call me a goblin?” The hideous suck up asks as Thorin leaves, making sure that the other didn’t get the last word.

____________________

It was far too easy to convince the Master to allow him to join the meeting. A simple threat and a promise of gold would make any corrupt person yield. Smaug was impressed by Thorin, he must admit. He didn’t know that he would do so well refusing the gold like he did, then storming out with the confidence of a king.

He was also surprised to see how close his Bilbo stuck to the young king, it was quite peculiar. He never expected his Bilbo to stick close to anyone, especially after all the _fun_ they had before.

The group was leaving, and Smaug had to act fast. “Oh, Mr. Oakenshield.” He says, he hated this so much. “I’d be honored to accompany you, I am after all staying in the same place as you.” He lied as he walks over to Thorin and places a hand on his chest.

“You may company us,” Thorin says as he gently took his hand and removed it from his chest. “but refrain from touching me.”

Smaug was surprised, "Of course my king. As you say." He then looked at Bilbo and smirks. He remembers him squirming under him, struggling. Why would his Bilbo be there, in this world and with his enemy. Bilbo looks at him and then continues to walk close to Thorin's side.

As they walked, Smaug continued to attempt to get closer to Bilbo. Thorin was always a step ahead and pointed something out. Explaining the history of it and all that, stuff that Bilbo liked. Smaug had to hold back from growling. He didn't care much about Bilbo's interest when they were together, but he didn't like it when Thorin was actually taking interest in it.

“Do tell me, Master Balin, what is the relationship between those two?” He asks, leaning down to whisper into the shorter man’s ear.

“Ah! They are supposedly Ones.” He says and smiles. “Thorin knows, but Bilbo is utterly blind to realizing this yet.”

“Ones?” Smaugs’ eyes shoot to Thorin and Bilbo, sticking so close. “That cannot be.” He whispers and glares. Brows narrowing as he glares daggers into the kings back.

“What was that?” Balin says looking up at him.

“Nothing, just mindless chatter.” Smaug smiles looking at Balin then turned his attention to the group moving.

Moving through the town, Smaug only thought about how pathetic the people were. The Master was probably the most pathetic out of them all, but still. Pathetic little people all together.

“Ah! Bard!” Bilbo shouts, causing everyone to look towards the man he called too.

Bard walked over, smiling along with his children. Smaug’s hand gripped into a fist looking at him. He could smell that horrid blood, the one that shot at him before and failed.

“Ah, Bowman.” He says and smirks looking at Bard. “You are quite a wonderful sight.”

Bard looks at her and raises a brow before turning his attention to Bilbo. “Do meet my children. Sigrid, my eldest, Bain, and this little one is Tilda.” He says. The youngest stared at Smaug in awe.

“You’re so pretty Ms!”

“Oh, thank you. I try.” Smaug forces a smile and messes with his hair. Flipping it over his shoulder.

Bilbo smiles. “I’m Bilbo Baggins, I’m honoured to meet you.” He says as he shakes Sigrid and Bain’s hand, Tilda just rushing over and giving him a hug.

Smaug watched as Bilbo’s golden curls moved into the light as he moved into the light when given the hug. Smiling, Smaug looks towards Thorin frown.

His face was that of someone in love. Problem was, he was looking at Bilbo.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that book.” Bilbo says as he hugs Tilda and looks at her father. “If that’s alright, I could help with your shopping and discuss it with you. If that’s alright with Thorin as well.”

“I’d be completely fine with it.” Bard says and looks towards Thorin.

“Bard knows this place like the back of his hand. You are in no better hands than his.” Thorin says and smiles. “We’ll be retiring to the hotel. Ms. Scarlet, let’s keep moving.” He says as he nods at Bard.

"I'll make sure he's safe." Bard says and gestures for Bilbo to follow him. His children sticking close and chatting with Bilbo as they walk away.

Smaug watches Bard and his Bilbo walk away, chatting. He couldn’t just go after them, he had to remain with Thorin to avoid suspicion. Smiling at Thorin, he walks behind them, glancing over his shoulder in the direction Bilbo went.

________________________

Going through the town, Bard told Bilbo all about the history of the town and how it was once a great trading port, up until the loss of Dale.

“Trading isn’t how it use to be.” He says and shrugs. “Especially because of the Master.”

“Oh, he was fired just so you know.” Bilbo says, Tilda holding his hand and walking by his side. The kids seemed entranced by Bilbo, trusted him very easily.

“That’s why Thorin came today, we had been planning to fire him for a while.” He says and shrugs. “Aside from that, what was it you wanted to talk to me about.”

“Ah! Right, the book.” Bilbo pulls it out and hands it to him. “It was quite interesting and informative. Sadly a quick read. But I wanted to say something about the man described, the dragon.” He say and looks ahead. “I’m not going to lie, it sounds like the description to my ex boyfriend.” He says and chuckles.

“Your ex from your land?”

“Yes. Tall, reddish hair, golden eyes…” Bilbo frowns and takes a deep breath. “He wasn’t a good boyfriend, I mean. We stayed together for several years due to manipulation and stuff like that. My family members pressured me to stay with him because he was well off. Though just because of that he was possessive and horrible.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But… there wouldn’t be a way that Smaug would be able to go to your land. That’d require a lot of magic, the type that Smaug couldn’t have.”

Bilbo froze and looked at Bard. “Wait, say that name again.”

“Smaug?”

“Is that the dragons name…” Bilbo’s hand started to shake as he looks at Bard. “Is it.”

Bard quickly looked around before looking into Bilbo’s eyes. “Yes. That’s the dragons name… Not many people dare to say it. How do you—”

Bilbo’s knee’s began to shake as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he falls, right into the ice water.

“Bilbo!” Bard shouts, tossing his jacket off and diving in after him.

He managed to grab his hand and pull him back up, swimming to the edge and pulling Bilbo up. His children helping.

He gently slapped Bilbo’s face, trying to wake him up.

“It’s him… It’s him…” Bilbo whimpers, shaking and gripping onto Bard’s arm.

“We need to get inside. Bain, go inform Thorin of what’s happened. Tell him that Bilbo will be resting at our house.” He says as he picks the man up and looks at his daughters. “Go ahead and start the fire, get some warm water started so we can warm him up.

His daughters nod and rush towards the house, Bain doing the same and running towards the hotel.

____________________

“What is it my _precious?_ You don’t like being tied up?” Smaug says as he runs his hand over Bilbo’s cheek, sitting on the side of the bed and looking down at him.

“No… Not particularly…” Bilbo says shifting, as though trying to get away from him. This wasn’t the first time that Smaug had tied him up, it was always when Bilbo disliked doing something.

Smaug looks at Bilbo’s finger and smiles as he rubs his ring finger. “You know, I quite enjoy looking at your beautiful body like this. Your golden locks, and wonderful shape.” He says and looks over Bilbo’s body before placing a kiss on Bilbo’s neck.

Bilbo couldn’t move. “Smaug, I really don’t want to right now. Can you please untie me? I have grading to do… I can't be late with grading another assignment...” Bilbo's voice was shaking as he spoke.

Smaug dug a nail into Bilbo’s wrist, causing him to flinch and whimper. “Shh, that can happen later. Now, where was I.” He looks around and picks up a golden ring, smiling and admiring it, he then looks at Bilbo’s finger and slides it on.

The gold burned. Gold shouldn’t burn like this, it felt as though it were on fire. Bilbo screamed in pain as he tries to struggle out of the ropes. It hurt too much, far too much to remain still and just take it. 

“Now, you are mine.” Smaug whispers in his ear and removed the ring, there was a burn on his finger. “Forever, my _precious."_

————————————

Bilbo woke screaming, gripping at his hand as though trying to douse a fire that wasn’t there. He pants as his eyes look around the room he was in. He was in a new pair of clothes, wrapped in blankets and his hair was wet.

“What… what…”

“You fell into the water.” Bard says as he sits in a chair and looks at Bilbo. “After you made a connection to the dragon.” He stands and walks over, sitting down at the end of the bed and looks at Bilbo.

Bilbo stared at his finger, he was still shaking as he stared at the burn.

“He hurt you, didn’t he.” Bard mutters, staring at Bilbo’s hand. “Did he leave that burn on your—“

“Don’t tell Thorin.” Bilbo continues to stare at his hand and looks at Bard. The burn stood out more than it did before, it was as if it was glowing. “Please. I don’t want him to know.”

As the two sit in silence, bells could be heard in the distance. Bard turns his attention to the window and opens it. Hearing that they were the warning bells.

“I have to go, you remain here with my daughters. Thorin should be here soon.” He says and stands. “I promise, Thorin will not hear anything about your relationship from me. I promise.”


	8. Smaug's Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has descriptions of stabbing. I don't go into great detail about it but it is a warning in case it bothers people. 
> 
> Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, I got quite busy and will be busy for a while. I'm so happy when I read comments, sorry for not responding to most of them. I think I replied to 1 or 2 of them. 
> 
> Also, "*" means that it's a different time or a little time skip but staying with the same character that it is focusing on. Completely different from the "____________" between characters.
> 
> -Madi

Thorin sat in his hotel room, stripped out of his coats and staring out the window. He raises a brow as he spots Bain rushing towards the hotel, causing him to stand and walk to the door.

Once he reaches the bottom of the stairs, Bain bursts through the door looking around. He relaxes slightly when he sees Thorin.

“Bain? What seems to be the matter?”

“It’s Bilbo, he fell into the water. Well, fainted into the water.” Bain says, placing his hands on his knees and hunching over to catch his breath. “It happened so fast, but he should be on the way to our home. He’ll be able to warm up there. My father just wanted me to inform you as quickly as I could.”

“Good job, I’ll head over there as soon as I can to see how he is.” Thorin says and places a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for telling me Bain.” He leads the boy to a seat and allows him to catch his breath.

Ms. Scarlet walks over and hands Bain a glass of water before looking at Thorin. “If you’d like, I could check on Bilbo.”

“No need, my father would have the whole situation covered.” Bain says as he stares at her. The look in his eyes was that of distrust. He didn’t trust Ms. Scarlet in the slightest.

“I’m sure your father does.” Thorin says patting his back. “Not to mention your sisters know medicine.”

After Bain had warmed up, he rushed outside and headed towards his house. Thorin looks at Ms. Scarlet.

“You seem very… curious about Master Baggins.” He says as he hands her a warm cup of water.

“Ah, he is a very _interesting_ case for me I must say.” She takes a sip and looks back out the window. “He reminds me of a past lover of mine. Golden curls, cute squeals. He was mine and mine alone, and I had to leave.”

“Had to leave?” Thorin sat down to listen more.

“Yes. I had unfinished business here and said my goodbyes. Though, he’ll always carry my mark.” She smirks as she stares in the direction of Bard’s house. “A burn on his middle finger, heated up there are marks on it. And I carry the golden ring that left that mark.”

Frowning, Thorin set his glass down and looks at her. “I’m not a fan of that story Ms. Scarlet. Burning to mark someone is distasteful. Not to mention painful.”

“Oh it is very painful. But that’s how things remain doesn’t it?” She looks at him and then turns her head when she hears the ringing. “Ah, seems like trouble.” She seemed way too calm about the ringing warning bells.

Thorin looks outside and stands, he turns towards the door and grabs his sword on the way out. He approaching Dwalin and looks back towards the room. “Make sure Ms. Scarlet doesn’t leave.”

“What?” Dwalin raises a brow and looks at him and follows his eyes. “I’m not gonna stay here a babysit some lass.” He crosses his arms and shakes his head. “Your my king, I’m here to protect you.”

“Don’t care, it’s an order. I’m going to check the situation. Tell Balin to get Bilbo out of here.” Thorin turns and burst through the door, some guards following close behind him.

Dwalin watches and shakes his head before looking towards the door. Something didn’t feel right about all this, and the look on Thorin’s face… something about it didn’t feel right.

—————————————

Smaug watches from the window and smirks as the king leaves with a group of his men. “Oh this is just to easy.” He says as he pushes away from the window and walks towards the fire place.

He stares at it for a moment before smirking and causing the fire to increase. “Oh dear! Help! Fire!” he shouts in the most distressed voice he could manage.

Loud thumping footsteps could be heard, rushing up the stairs. Dwalin burst through the door and grabs the glass she was holding and tosses it at the fire.

“Fuckin’ hell!” he shouts as he tries to find something else to cool the fire down.

Smaug walks over behind him and slams his fist on the back of Dwaine’s head. Enough force was put into it to cause the other to fall. “Oops.” He says and chuckles as he walks downstairs, allowing the fire to spread.

“Tell Thorin that Smaug says hello.” He says as his eyes flash gold just as Dwalin’s eyes fluttered close.

Stepping out of the hotel, Smaug glances around and smirks as Orcs jump down from the top of buildings. People screaming as their skin is sliced open. “Music to my ears.”

His eyes wander over the sight of death as he starts to walk towards Bards house.

*

Upon reaching it, he fixes his top. Shuffling it to where his breasts popped out more. Reaching up, he pulls some strands out of his hair and messed it up slightly. As though he ran. He then bangs on the door.

“Open up! Please!”

Suddenly, the door swings open and Sigrid pulls him in quickly before shutting the door.

“What’s happening?!” She asks as she grabs an old harpoon and stands by the door, weapon ready.

“Orcs are attacking the city. People are lying dead in the streets. I came here to make sure that Bilbo was alright but, then the attack happened.” He says as he looks out the window.

Sigrid looks at her and then back out the window. “Ada and Bain hadn’t returned yet, but we aren’t completely defenseless here.” Frowning, Sigrid reaches back and grabs a kitchen knife and hands it to Smaug, “It’s not much, but if those things break in… It’ll protect you.” She says as she turns to grab Tilda.

“Oh yes. It will.” Smaug’s arm quickly grabs Sigrid’s and pulls her close to him. He adjusts the knife and stabs her side quickly. Eyes glowing gold as he looks at her and smirks.

“What are you—“ Sigrid’s eyes widen as she feels the knife go into her side. She falls to the ground and grips at her side. Tilda screaming and running to her sister.

“It won’t kill you.” He growls as he looks towards the stairs. “I only came for what’s mine.” He walks past them, allowing them to cry and scream. He places his hand on the railing and began to step up. One by one.

He looks over and smiles as he sees Bilbo asleep. Wrapped in several blankets and obviously running a slight fever.

“You were always a deep sleeper. My precious.” He says as he scoops Bilbo up into his arms. His appearance changed to his original one. A tall man, red clothes and red hair, golden eyes.

He turns and walks down the stairs, staring at the sleeping man in his arms. He didn’t even notice Tilda.

Suddenly, he feels a sharp pain in his leg. He roars as he looks down and sees a knife deep in his leg. The pain caused him to drop Bilbo. He reaches down. 

______________________

Bilbo rolled down the stairs, groaning and opening his eyes as he sees Sigrid laying in a pool of blood. Tilda screaming and reaching for… a knife? His eyes then wander to the stairs. Eyes widening as he spots Smaug standing there, growling and pulling the knife out of his leg.

“Smaug…” He whispers in a shaky breath as he sits up. His heart beat increasing as he stares at the man.

The taller man pulls the knife out of his leg and looks at Bilbo and smirks. He steps down and quickly glares at the new knife that Tilda had, causing it to burn her hand. She dropped the knife and screamed.

“This would have been a much better reunion, if they had just stayed put down here.” Smaug says as he walks over to Bilbo, lifting his chin up. “You are still so beautiful.” Smaug’s eyes traveled down Bilbo’s body before his eyes land on his middle finger of his right hand. Lifting it up and kissing the burn.

“Still mine.” He growled as he blew hot breath against his hand. Bilbo screams in pain as the markings on his finger started to show, glowing painfully bright. It was written in a completely different language than Thorin’s people.

He then places his lips against Bilbo’s hand just as the door burst open. The man turned and growled looking at the door, standing up and fixing his coat.

At the door stood Thorin and Bard. Swords drawn and in shock. Bard rushes to his daughters, quickly applying pressure to Sigrid’s side. Thorin’s eyes were locked on Smaug.

“Ah, finally you arrive.” Smaug says as he reaches down and grabs Bilbo by the collar of his shirt and lifts him up, feet barely touching the ground. “I thought I’d pay a visit to my possession.”

“Bilbo is not yours! You fat lizard!” Thorin barks as he takes a step into the house.

“Very un-kingly of you Thorin. I expected more from you.” Smaug grabs Bilbo’s hand and holds it out for Thorin to see the burn. “But you are mistaken. You remember what Ms. Scarlet told you? Well, surprise.” Mimicking the voice he used earlier. Smaug looks at Bilbo and releases his right hand, placing his hand on his cheek and allowing a claw to cut his cheek.

Bilbo whimpers and turns away from the dragon.

“You see Thorin, Bilbo and I have history. I managed to get to England, wanted to learn about great warriors and learn how they conquered. Then,” He runs his hand through Bilbo’s hair and plays with a curl. “I met him. Sitting in the library alone, reading a book about some king. A lonely soul.” Smaug purred and set Bilbo down, still holding onto him though.

Thorin looks at Bilbo, sword lowering slightly.

“I got close to him, made love to him. Marked him. I knew he was important, and who could resist these beautiful curls.”

“Let him go and leave. Call off your attack.” Thorin says as he lifts the sword once more.

Smaug just stares at him, completely amused. “Hmm. How about I call off my attack _for now._ But he comes with me.” Wings sprout out of Smaug’s back. His arms grow, ripping his shirt as he adjusts his grip on Bilbo, grabbing him around his waist and looking up. He jumps, crashing through the thin floor board and out through the roof.

Bilbo screams as he is in the air, “Let go of my you bloody obsessive asshole!” He shouts, hitting against Smaugs arm.

“Oh hush.” Smaug growls as he looks over Lake Town and whistles. The Orcs pause and look at him, then scatter towards the woods.

Opening his wings wider, Smaug takes off. Bilbo struggling in his grip as he flies over the homes and cold water. Looking up towards Smaug, then back towards Bards house. Bilbo takes a deep breath.

Managing to remove one of Smaugs fingers from him, he bites down as hard as he could.

Smaug growls and lets him go, dropping him into the water below. Smaug was about to dive after him when flashes of something zoomed past him. Too quick to be seen from under the water. The large shape of the dragon flew away in a hurry before everything went black.

————————————

Tauriel paused at the side of the forest, looking out towards Laketown. “Legolas. Look at this.”

The blond elf walks over and looks out towards Laketown. “Smoke? Well, maybe they are just… cooking?” He says and shrugs. “It does not concern us.”

“I beg to differ.” She shakes her head and roll her eyes as she stares out. “The least we could do is check it out.” She puts her bow on her back and starts moving towards the town, the blond quickly following behind her. Attempting to explain how it was a bad idea, but it was obvious she wasn’t listening.

Entering the town, she was surprised to see all the destruction. “By the gods…” She covers her mouth and looks back at Legolas.

His eyes widen as he looks around as well.

“We need to help.” She says and points in the direction of the smoke. “You go see if anyone needs help over there. I’m going to look around.” Legolas nods and quickly rushes in the direction she pointed.

Tauriel speeds through the city, she pauses when she sees the water move. She stares a moment longer before she dives in. There was someone in the water.

She swims as quickly as she could, grabbing the man and swimming to the surface. She takes a deep breath of air as she breaches the surface. She gently smacks the guys cheek, seeing no response.

Quickly swimming to the edge of the doc, she places one hand on the splintered wood and pulls him up with all her strength. Practically tossing him. She climbs up and places her head against his chest.

There was no heartbeat.

She places her hands on his chest, quickly pressing hard and counting each press before placing her lips against his and blowing air. She repeats the process several times. Resting her head on his chest, then pressing against it. 

“Live!” She shouts as she hits his chest. 

The man begins to cough, spitting out water. She quickly turns him on his side and pats his back as he tries to breath.

“You’re alright… you're alright.” She says quietly as she him over. There was blood on his side and what appears to be a deep claw mark. “You need medical attention.” Her voice began to shake as the bitter cold around them started to hit her skin.

“Bilbo!” A loud voice came from the other side of the path. Tauriel looks over, surprised to see King Thorin.

Thorin’s eyes were on the sky, and very slowly they landed on Tauriel and the man in her arms. He let out a breath of relief as he rushes over, taking the man away from her and holding him close.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispers as his cheek caresses the man's cheek. The kings eyes then turn to Tauriel. "Who are you so I can express my thanks."

She looks at him and bows her head. “I am Tauriel of Mirkwood. We saw smoke and we came to see what had happened.” She didn’t look up at him. “I hardly noticed he was in the water.”

“Thank you, Tauriel.” Thorin says quietly as he stands. The man in his arms. “Thank you for saving him. I owe you my life.”

Standing up, Tauriel shakes her head and looks at him. Before she could answer, another man approached. He held his bow ready as he looked up at the sky. His hands were covered in blood.

“Where is that bastard.” The man spat as he glares at the sky.

“He’s gone. But how is Sigrid?”

“Managed to stop the bleeding. There aren’t good healers here, would it be alright to take her to Erebor as quickly as we can?” The man looks at Thorin with a pleading look. “Please. I cannot lose my daughter as well.”

“Let me look at her.” Tauriel says as she stands up. Clothes dripping wet as she looks at the man. “I know healing spells, I can help.”

*

Tauriel looks at the wound and bites her lip. It was deep, but she would try her best. She closes her eyes and chants in elvish, pushing against the wound. Her voice got louder and louder as she pushed harder on the wound. Sigrid screaming in pain and had to be held down by her father and by Thorin.

Then everything stopped.

Sigrid’s eyes were closed and she breathed slowly. Tauriel removed her hands to reveal a large scar on her side, but it was healed.

“She’ll be fine.” Tauriel says as she collapses into a chair, shivering.

Tilda walks over with a large blanket and hands it to her. “Thank you for saving Sigrid.” She says as she walks to her sister and holds her hand.

Bard brushes Sigrid’s hair out of her face. Tears stream down his face as he gently places a kiss on her forehead.

Bilbo had his wound patched up and he too was sleeping on a bunch of pillows.

“Without you, they’d both would have died.” Thorin says and looks at her. He smiles and bows his head slightly just as the door bursts open.

Legolas walks in, holding onto a very large bald man who was covered in smoke and burns.

“Dwalin!” Thorin rushes over and takes his friend from Legolas and sets him in a chair.

“Found him in a fire.” Legolas says as he quickly walks to Tauriel and checks her over.

“I’m alright. Don’t need no damn help from an elf.” Dwalin says as he coughs.

“Sure. I was just going to let you burn passed our on the floor. You know, like elves do.” Legolas rolls his eyes. _”Are you alright Tauriel?”_

 _”Yes. Just cold is all.”_ The two speak in elvish for a brief moment before looking towards the others.

“What happened here to cause so much damage and death?” Legolas asks as he puts his sword away and sets his bow down. “Can your wars not remain on the battlefield.”

“Legolas.” Tauriel raises her voice and shakes her head. “I apologies for my friend. He usually isn't like this.”

Thorin looks at Legolas. “You are King Thranduil’s son? Aren’t you?”

Legolas nods his head before looking towards the others in the room. “We will be taking our leave now.” He takes Tauriel’s hand and helps her stand before turning to the door.

“Please. I meant no offense when asking who your father is.” Thorin says as he lifts his hand up to stop them. “Your father is headed to Erebor in a few days yes? I would like you two to accompany us back to Erebor. You will be rewarded. I just…” He looks back at Bilbo. “I need more protection.”

Legolas looks at Tauriel who only nods and smiles at him.

“We’d be honored too. We will send a raven to Thranduil and inform him of where we will be.” Tauriel smiles at them. “We head for Erebor.”


	9. When Things Get Better

Nori stares out towards Lake Town, frowning as he watched smoke rise from the distance. He flips his knife in his hand tries to watch carefully. That’s what he learned, got to keep quiet and still and you’ll see the danger eventually.

He didn’t even hear Dori enter the room.

Dori looks at the fabric in his arm before looking up, spotting Nori in complete concentration. It was rare for Nori to not notice him, so this was his only opportunity.

“Nori!” Dori shouts. His younger brother screams as he drops his knife, cutting his hand. Falling over and lands on his back.

Bursting into laughter, Dori drops his fabric and holds onto his stomach.

“Ass and cheese! Dori!” Nori hisses as he looks at his hand.

“Ass and cheese? What a lovely snack.” Dori says as he chuckles, walking over and looking at Nori’s hand. Nori tries to pull his hand away, but Dori’s grip was too strong for him to slip out of. “Oh hush, it’s just a simple paper cut. You’ve had worse.”

Nori rolls his eyes, yanking his hand away and standing up. “Oh shut it.” He walks over and grabs a thing of bandage and wraps his hand, making sure that it covered the wound.

When he turned to face Dori, his brother was staring out the window towards Laketown.

“Smoke.” Nori says as he walks over, staring at his hand. “I have a bad feeling.” He says as he flexes his fingers before looking out the window.

“Thorin is down there.” Dori says and shakes his head. “I’m sure it’s fine, everything is fine. They know how to take care of themselves.” Bending down, Dori grabs his fabric and looks at Nori. “Dwalin is going to be fine.” He pats his brothers shoulder before walking into the other room.

Nori shakes his head. He then spots a raven flying overhead towards the mountain.

Turning, he rushes out the door towards the edge of town. He spotted the rams making a steady climb up the mountain. “Oh thank Mahal.” Nori muttered as he studies them for a moment.

There were less guards with them and more people. There were even elves with them.

Nori starts his decent to approach them. He usually would have let it be, but this was different. Something was off.

He spotted Thorin, holding tight to Bilbo. Bilbo was shivering and frost had built up in his hair from the chill. “What happened…” Nori asks as he approaches. He looks Thorin over and noticed black blood on his armour.

“Orcs attacked Laketown. We brought the wounded back with us so that the healers can see them.” Thorin looks down at Bilbo and pulls him closer.

Nori saw the blood on Bilbo’s coat. “Orcs don’t leave marks like that.” Nori mutters and looks at his king before turning away. His eyes glossed over unfamiliar faces. He saw Balin, the man looked tired and sad. “Where’s Dwalin?” Nori asks as he looks around.

Balin looks back, eyes wandering before they stop. “Over there.” He says and points before he continues to move.

Nori turns his head and spots the warrior. He had burns on his skin and a bruise on his neck.

“What happened to you.” Nori’s hand was shaking as he reaches up and places his hand on top of Dwalin.

Dwalin pulls his hand away quickly, glaring at Nori.

“Dwalin…” Nori whispers as Dwalin rides on, keeping silent and his eyes ahead.

Nori blinks and tries to find something to say. No words escaped his chapped lips as he started back up the mountain.

_____________________

Two weeks pass as the group had arrived back in Erebor. Tauriel had helped with the wounded and mostly kept close to the mountain.

Walking through the town of Erebor. Tauriel looks around and smiles. She was wearing more Erebor styled clothes after her’s got thoroughly soaked.

Her eyes wandered the town as the two walked.

Spying one store, she raises a brow and walks over. Instantly recognising the shop keep. _“Sage One?”_ Tauriel says as she walks over to her. Looking at the short woman with short blond hair.

“Ah! Tauriel. I’ve been expecting you.” The woman smiles and leans on the table. “Though I expected you in Mirkwood, not here in Erebor.”

“How did you…” Tauriel looks around and notices Legolas at another stall, talking to that storekeeper. “How did you get here?”

“Simple. I walked.” The store keep shrugged and looks Tauriel over. “You aren’t wearing the necklace I gave you.”

“You mean the rock?” Tauriel raises a brow and looks at her. “I looked for the colour on the stone in Mirkwood, and there were no eyes the same colour.” She reaches in a little pouch that rested on her hip.

It was a perfectly round pebble, deep brown. The chain was a dark iron as well. In the middle was something written, though Tauriel didn’t know what it meant, just that it was not elvish.

“I see. Did the thought ever occur to you that it might not be someone from Mirkwood.”

Tauriel raises a brow as she looks at the necklace and then at the store keep. Suddenly, there was loud crashing coming from around the corner.

Suddenly, a man rounds the corner. Rushing to the store keep and smiling wide at her.

“Ah, prince Kíli. What brings you here for the fourth time today?” The Sage smiles and crosses her arms.

The prince was panting as he tries to catch his breath. Did he really run that hard to get to this little shop.

“I wanted to,” deep breath, “ask about this necklace.” He holds out his necklace. It caught Tauriel’s eye as she looks at the colouring. “I’m not drawn to the colour anywhere else but on this necklace. Please, explain.” He says as he shakes his head.

The Sage looked between the two and sighs. Shaking her head. “I cannot answer your question, my prince. No matter what.” She then smiles and looks at Tauriel. “This young miss asked the exact same question before you rudely came crashing over here. Must you always reek havoc.”

“Oh, my apologies.” Kíli turns to Tauriel and smiles. “I get excited and forget what my… initial… plans were.” Kíli stares into her eyes and blinks a couple times.

Tauriel also stares into his eyes. As though in a trance. She had to look slightly down to make eye contact.

Kíli looks towards his necklace and then at her, then back at the necklace. This repeated quite a few times before the two look at the Sage.

“What are you two looking at me for.” She says and shrugs, looking at the necklaces in both their hands and then back at them. “Oh well would you look at that.” She says, smile growing. “Looks like it’s a match.”

Kíli looks at Tauriel once more, but before either of them could utter a word, Legolas shouts towards Tauriel.

“Tauriel! We should head into the mountain.” He says, stuffing something into his bag and looked at them. “Come on.”

“Ah, yes.” She says as she tares her eyes away from Kíli. Looking towards Legolas, she quickly rushes towards the other.

Kíli stands in shock as he watches her leave. “My One… is an elf?” He slowly turns to the Sage as she shakes her head.

“Oh don’t look at me. It’s destined.” She says and waves her hand at him. “Now shoo. I have work to do.”

Kíli looks towards the direction the two walked off in, smiling as he sees Tauriel turn and look back towards him. “Tauriel…” He whispers as he looks at his necklace.

______________________

Thorin paces the war room. He stops and slams his hands on the table. “Damn!” He shouts as he runs his hands through his hair.

“Calm down.” Dís says as she walks into the room and sets a cup of tea on the table. She looks at her brother. She runs her hand through her hair and sat down in one of the chairs. “You need to ask Bilbo.”

“I can’t.” Thorin says as he sits across from her, shaking his head. “I cannot ask him to tell me of his relationship with Smaug.”

Reaching over, Dís places a hand on his knee and looks into his eyes. “You must Thorin. You need to be the one to ask him.”

“Nadad, you must. Or Dwalin will and we already know how pissed off he is.”

Thorin only nodded before standing up once more, walking out of the room.

Dís smiles weakly before looking at the war table. She picked up a piece and sets it back down. “This war will bring out the worst in us.”

*

Thorin stands outside the room Bilbo was resting in. Ion had been the one to check him over and bandage the wound. Oin refused to use his magic on Bilbo, not knowing how it’d effect someone from another world.

Pushing the door open, he spots Bilbo laying in bed with a book on his chest. Breathing slowly and softly as he rested.

Smiling, Thorin walks over and grabs a chair, moving it to the side Bilbo slept on. He gently removes the book from the other’s chest and set it on the dresser to his left, then took Bilbo’s hand.

“I’m sorry Amrâlimê, I should not have let this happen.”

Bilbo groans and opens his eyes, looking at Thorin. He smiles and takes his hand and slowly sits up, wincing at the pain. “Glad that you finally came to check on me.” he mutters, adjusting himself into a comfortable position before looking at Thorin.

“You shouldn’t move too much.” Reaching his hand out, he places it on top of Bilbo’s. “You were hurt badly, not to mention almost frozen.”

Bilbo moves his hand quickly, lacing his fingers in between Thorins. “I told you. I’m fine.”

Thorin stares at their hands and nods his head. He lets out a deep sigh and looks into Bilbo’s eyes. “We need to discuss… about your relationship with Smaug.”

Bilbo freezes and frowns, pulling his hand away and resting it on his stomach. He clears his throat and shakes his head. “He was a bad boyfriend. That’s all that I can really say about it.”

“Bilbo…”

Taking a deep breath, Bilbo looks away from Thorin. “He was abusive, as you could tell. Didn’t care if I was in pain or if I didn’t want it. He’d force me sometimes but I just went along with it. Scared to be alone you know.” He stares at the burn on his finger. He started to tremble.

“One day, he beat me so badly that I ended up being found by a coworker. He rushed me to the hospital and then helped me move out. Got me into my parents old place and I never saw Smaug again. He practically disappeared.” Tears swell in his eyes.

Thorin reached and places his hand on Bilbo’s and holds it tight.

“I hoped he would never find me again. I was so _scared_ that he’d find me again… and he did.”

“I’m so sorry Bilbo.” Thorin whispers as he stands, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling Bilbo close to him. “I won’t let him near you again. I promise.”

With that, Bilbo broke into broken sobs. Clinging onto Thorin, digging his nails into the fabric of his shirt.

Thorin held him close and hummed quietly.

Bilbo passes out against his chest, and that is where Thorin remained. He stayed with Bilbo the whole night just keeping him close to him.

“I won’t let him touch you again. I won’t let him hurt you again. I promise with my life I will never hurt you.” He gently places a kiss on his forehead and smiles.

Dís watches from the door and smiles as she shuts it, allowing the two privacy.

___________________

Dori pauses as he sees Dwalin, standing around acting like a guard.

“Right.” He says, rolling up his sleeves as he walks over and grabs the larger man. “What did you do to my brother.” He growls.

Nori had been hiding in the bad rock, it took Dori hours to find him. Even Ori had to help look because there are so many places that Nori could hide.

Dwalin’s face looked at Dori with confusion and surprise. “How am I suppose to know.” Attempting to tug his arm away from Dori.

Dori held his grip and glared at him. “What did you do when he ran to you.” Tightening his grip, he twisted Dwalin’s arm back to it’s snapping point.

“I didn’t _do_ anything!” Dwalin grunts as Dori releases his arm. He rubs his wrist and glares.

“Well fix it. It’s dangerous in the bad rock and I don’t want anything to happen to my brother.” Dori crosses his arms and squints his eyes at him. “If anything happens to him in the bad rock, then that’s on you.” He turns and heads back towards his shop.

Dwalin remained still, holding his wrist as he tries to process what had just happened. Why Dori blamed him for Nori staying in the bad rock?

Dwalin remembers Dori’s strength, and that it wasn’t to be taken lightly of. Knowing that the mithril haired man could easily beat him in a fight if he wanted too. Guards weren’t ever able to enlist him into battle because of Nori as well. The Ri brothers had a fierce bond that was not to be broken. If one was hurt, they’d all know. 

Shaking his head, Dwalin looked towards the area with the worst amount of bad rock. It didn’t look like Nori would have been there, but he would have to check. 

“Dwalin!” One of the guards came running to him, out of breath and looking scared. “They caught… A thief, the one who has weird triangular hair…” He says panting. 

“Nori? What about it? Probably stole some gems.” Dwalin sighs and rolls his eyes, now knowing where the other Ri brother was. 

“That’s the thing! He didn’t have any gems nor stole anything from what we can tell. They just… brought him in for no reason.!” 

Dwalin’s eyebrow raised as he looks at the guard. “Take me to them.” 

*

The two rush through the markets and arrive at the jail. Dwalin burst through the door and grabs one of the guards. “What are you doing arresting people who ain’t done nothin’.” 

The guard grips at Dwalin’s hand, trying to break free. “What are you talking about Dwalin! We haven’t arrested anyone today!” 

Letting the man go and allowing him to fall to the floor, he looks back at the guard who ran to him in the market. 

“That’s a lie! I saw them grab Nori out of the bad rock!” 

“That wasn't us! I’ve been on duty here all damn day!” Standing up, the guard rubbed his neck and glared. 

“If you didn’t do it, then who took the thief!” Dwalin shouts, causing the room to go silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter took so long, it feels like it has been drilling a hole in my head. Hopefully the next chapter can be posted tomorrow, but I'm unsure due to how much work I currently have. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> -Madi


	10. Others Get Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does mention rape in the first part. I don't go into description about it, but I am putting a warning here still. 
> 
> This chapter to me feels like it's the best I've ever written out of all the other chapters. I don't know why, but it just does. Anyways, please enjoy this chapter. 
> 
> There is also a reason why characters are acting the way they are. I'm not just entirely dismissing and changing how they acted earlier. Everything is for a reason. 
> 
> -Madi

Nori groans as he opens his eyes and looks around. His arms were chained up and he had a swelling bruise on his cheek. He hisses as he looks around, it was one of the old torture chambers. They moved it to the prison when the rock around it became bad.

“This is quite the sex dungeon.” He mutters as he tries to move his arms, they were chained up above him. Rolling his eyes, he adjusts himself to where he could reach into his hair and pull out his lock picks. Only that they weren’t there.

“You aren’t getting out that way.” Someone says, standing in the shadows.

“No, I’m just gonna use magic and break out. Easy.” Nori snaps back, keeping calm as he squints, trying to adjust his eyes.

A chuckle sounded in a different corner of the room, causing Nori to turn his head.

“Oh please. You’re the last person we worry about with _magic._ You don’t have any powers of your own. Only your brothers do.”

Nori growls, pulling at the rusted chains.

“Now us? We do have magic. And those chains are practically unbreakable.”

“Who the fuck are you and why am I here.” Spitting into the darkness, Nori hides his face as a sudden light fills the room. The light blinding him for a moment.

“Awe, don’t you remember us?” One of the men took a step forward into the light. It was one of the men who nearly killed Nori.

“Ah, how could I forget that ugly mug. Maybe use your magic to fix that.” Nori smirk, “I think Dwalin made permanent work of your nose, don’t ya think?”

“Shut it!” The man swings his arm, slapping Nori across his face. It stung like a bitch but a little slap never stopped Nori.

Nori chuckles and shakes his head. “That the best you got? God, no wonder you turned to torture. Couldn’t get anyone to talk with that pussy slap.”

That comment earned him a punch to his cheek.

“Enough.” The other voice says as they adjust the light in their hand. The woman walks over to Nori and smiles. “Now,” Her golden eyes glittered in the light. “You are Dwalin’s One, aren’t you.” She places the burning hand on Nori’s arm, causing him to scream. “You smell faintly of him. That sweaty smell, the smell of a real man.” She smirks and looks at his neck. “And yet you refuse to wear his colour. That stunning blue.” She whispers in his ear. “Why?”

“I’ll never tell you anything, you bitch!” Nori growls and spits once more, landing on her shoe.

The woman looks down and then turns to the guard. “Break him in ways that his own One will never want him again.” She looks down at Nori. “You do have a very pretty face. But that’s not going to protect you.” She turns and begins to walk away.

Nori turns to the other man in the room who approached quickly.

All that could be heard in the room were screams of pain, tears, and pleas for the man to stop.

*

Nori sat on the cold floor. Naked, bleeding, and in pain. He had been violated in the worst way and for several weeks it repeated.

“Oh what a poor sight.” The woman says as she walks in, bringing in light once more. “Are you willing to talk now?” She reaches under his chin, lifting up his head to look up at her.

_”Never.”_

“Hmm, you don’t break easily do you. Even after all he did to you.” She looks him over, lifting up his leg slightly. He quickly pulls his legs close to him. She sighs and stands up, looking towards the man. “I’ll make sure the hound gets word of where he is. He’ll be here to collect this mess.”

“But—“ The man looks at Nori and frowns. “Let me kill him.”

“No.” The woman looks at him and shakes her head. “I will not let you kill him.” She reaches down and brings out a box, walking over. She sets it near Nori, not close enough to be super obvious. Not far enough to go unnoticed.

She then places her hand on the man’s cheek. Smiling and batting her eyelashes. “You were so good.”

Nori’s eyes widen as she then quickly moved her fingers, slicing the man's neck. She then drags the body somewhere. When she walks back, Nori clings closer to the wall.

She steps through the trail of blood over to him and places a hand on his cheek and gently shushes. “Don’t worry. They are going to find you soon.” She then turns and leaves the room. Taking the light and leaving Nori alone in the cold.

Though Nori wasn’t alone… There was someone else quietly breathing in the corner and dragging of the box.  
_______________________

Slamming his hand on the table, Dori glares at the soldiers in the room. “It’s been _weeks_ and you haven’t found anything!”

Ori looks at his brother and then towards Dwalin, who was on the receiving end of Dori’s rage.

“We looked everywhere. We don’t know what happened but we are still looking.” Dwalin replies, rubbing his head and shaking it. This was the fifth time this week he had to explain this to Dori. He was already busy enough as it is. Smaug was making a move and they could not calculate it.

“I don’t give a damn! Ask around, try and get more people to search!”

“Dori, I’ve got as many people as I can looking!” Dwalin raises his voice, silencing the mithril haired brother. “Do you not think I haven’t been looking? He might have just gotten pissy and ran off for fuck sake.”

“Nori is never gone for this long.” Ori whispers, looking at Dwalin. “He is never gone this long.” With that, Ori rushes out of the room. Pushing the heavy doors hard enough that they slam behind him.

He was running so fast he didn’t even see Bilbo in front of him until they were both on the floor.

“Oof!” He hears, lifting his head up and looking at the other man.

“Bilbo!” Ori shouts as he quickly stands, reaching down and yanking Bilbo back to his feet. “Are you alright?! I’m so sorry I just—“

“Wow, calm down Ori.” Bilbo says smiling, setting an arm on his shoulder. “What has gotten you all riled up?” With that question, Ori bursts into tears. Clinging onto Bilbo.

Bilbo had walked him to the kitchen, sat him down, and brought him a cup of tea. “Still no news about Nori?” Bilbo asks as he sat across from him.

“Not a peep…It’s not like Nori to just disappear without saying a word to us, or even without sending us a letter if he did leave.” Ori stares at the drink. “He never just vanishes.”

Bilbo frowns and listens. He sips his tea before setting it on the table.

“Look, Ori. I’m sure your brother is going to be fine.” He says placing a hand on his knee. “Knowing Nori, he’s resilient and nothing can keep him locked up for long.” He says and chuckles.

Ori nods his head and smiles. “Yeah! You’re right. I just can’t shake a bad feeling.” He says and shrugs.

“When one goes missing, there tends to be worry.” Bilbo lets out a sigh and he too stares at his steaming cup.

The two remain in silence until the princes came in, ransacking the food and making sure that Ori ate something. The Scribe did look skinnier.

“I’ll take Ori home.” Fíli says and smiles at Bilbo. Gently leading Ori out of the kitchen and walking through the market to Dori’s.

Fíli held Ori’s hand and smiles at him. “You know, I always get worried that Kili is going to do somethings stupid.”

“He usually does.” Ori says and chuckles, looking ahead.

“Yeah, well. One time he disappeared for a whole day, and no one could find him. But he was hidden in plane sight. Right under the table in the main kitchen.” Fíli smiles and looks at Ori. “Your brother is going to turn up soon. You’ll see.”

The two quietly chatted, walking slowly through town and making wrong turns along the way.

Stopping at Dori’s store, Fíli looks at Ori and clears his throat. “Well. Here we are.” He stares at the door and then looks at Ori once again.

“Thank you Fíli.” Ori smiles and looks at the door as well. “I better, um… Head inside before Dori worries about me.”

“Yeah. Yeah you go right ahead.” The two make no indication that they were going to move.

“You should come to the library more. I’d like to…you know. Hang out again.” Ori says, cheeks turning bright red as he quickly goes inside before hearing an answer.

He smiles and leans against the door for a moment before heading into the kitchen. He stops, smile vanishing from his face as he looks at Dori.

“They found Nori…”

________________________

Dwalin was informed of blood trailing down the mountain by the old torture chambers.

He was just going to send his men to check it out, but something drew him to it. What if the blood was Nori’s. He climbs up the old path, making sure someone with strong stone sense was ahead to get everyone off in time.

The rock was surprisingly strong, and they found the mutilated corps of an old soldier. “I know him.” Dwalin frowns and looks down, there was a strange trail of blood. “Take him back down. I’m going to check this out. You two, come with me.”

Following the trail, Dwalin enters a dark room. There were whimpers coming from inside.

“Get me a light.” Dwalin ordered.

“Dwalin?…” A broken voice and a rattle of chains turned Dwalin’s blood cold.

“Get me a light _now!"_ Quickly, the room was lit up and Dwalin spotted Nori, curled in a ball, arms strapped to chains and he had dried blood on him.

Dwalin rushes to him, but stops when he saw the other’s shape. Nori was scared. more scared than when he first met him. Nori wouldn’t even look at him.

“Nori… What did he—“ Dwalin looks down and knew instantly what had happened. “He raped you.”

Nori looks away from him, shaking and curled to the wall.

“Find the key, we need to get him home.” Dwalin slowly reaches out to Nori and places a hand on his swollen cheek. How long had he kept him here?

Suddenly, another nose came from the room. Dwalin turns his head, eyes widening as the light showed another man. Sitting with his arm chained and his eyes locked on Dwalin.

The Durin blue eyes, the grey hair. Features that only their family line would have.

“Frerin…”

——————————————

Thorin and Dís push through crowds of healers as they hurry to the main healer tent.

Dwalin had sent them a raven, telling them that they both needed to get there as soon as possible.

“Dwalin. What is it.” Dís asks as she spots the large warrior. “We came as fast as we could but—“

All Dwalin did was point into another area. He was staying close to someone sleeping, poppy milk next to the sleeping man with red hair. Dís instantly knew it was Nori.

She gives him a nod before looking at Thorin and going into the next room.

Their hearts stop.

Frerin was sitting on one of the beds, Oin checking him over and making sure that he was in good health.

“Frerin…” Thorin whispered, more broken than the day Frerin left.

Their brother turns and looks at them. He remained silent as he just stares. He was holding onto a box.

“Frerin. It is us.” Dís slowly approaches as she looks back at Thorin. She places her hand on her brothers cheek and closes her eyes.

Frerin shakes his head and blinks, the cloud in his eyes were gone as he looks at his siblings. His head went between the two, tears swelling in his eyes as he looks between them. “Thorin…Dís…” He whispers.

“Yes. Yes it is us.” Thorin walks over and pulls his brother into an embrace. Along with his sister.

The three remained, holding each other close and whispering quietly. No one disturbed them.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to this fic that I wrote, yep.  
> I will try to update this regularly, hopefully. I do have an unpredictable scheduled and may not have time to work on this story often.  
> I do hope you've enjoyed this chapter. :)  
> I also hope to write longer chapters for this story later on. 
> 
> -Madi


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